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Kaieteur News
Kaieteur News Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana. Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: Adam Harris Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210
EDITORIAL
Nationality over ethnicity One Guyanese who proudly identifies himself as such is being pilloried. As fate would have it, even the national leaders despite taking an oath of allegiance to the country, Guyana, and wrapping themselves in the cloak of the Guyanese constitution, see themselves as anything other than Guyanese first. A few years back, while a reporter was travelling through Trinidad and Tobago he heard a conversation between a United States based Guyanese who happened to be coming home. This foreign-based Guyanese was pumped up about his blackness. He wanted to see people aligned by their ethnicity although in his mind, all non-whites were black in keeping with the North American designation. He goes to the Trinidadian and tries to tell him that he too was black. The Trinidadian was of East Indian ancestry but he slapped the man down with a terse phrase, “I am Trinidadian.” Needless to say the Guyanese was upset and he mumbled something about people being part of a lost cause. There are times when people from our corner of the world are caught up trying to determine the ethnicity of certain people and misplacing them. For example, when England brought a man named Basil D’Oliveira as a member of the team, the then Head of State, Forbes Burnham decided to impose the ban on the team for trying to play D’Oliveira. At the time Guyana had a ban on anyone from South Africa playing in this country. The English for their part contended that D’Oliveira was not a white South African but that did not matter. In our book, from appearances D’Oliveira was white and he looked the part. At best he was South African. People prefer to be identified by nationality than by ethnicity for a variety of reasons. One of them is that nationality is a greater rallying force than ethnicity. People proudly display their nationality. Wars have been fought by nations. Here ethnicity does not matter. When the Pakistan Under-19 cricket team came to Guyana a few years back—Shaheed Afridi was then Under19 and he came here too—there was a black opener. Guyanese were amazed and to a man the reporters raced to interview this black cricketer on the Pakistani team. One of the local reporters asked the young man about being black and being on the team. The young cricketer replied that he was not black, that he was Pakistani. When Moses Nagamootoo said that he was Guyanese and not Indian he was doing what everyone on the modern world would do, display one’s identity. We are our nationality first and anything else after. Therefore, when a former President of this country seeks to make much out of Nagamootoo’s ‘I am Guyanese’ statement, what he is in fact doing is seeking to heighten the race issue in Guyana. In fact, he has brought race into the elections campaign. Every Guyanese knows that race has been playing a significant role in elections in Guyana from the introduction of Universal Adult suffrage. In those days it was us against the whites. This trend continued in 1955 and remains a fact to this day. Fortunately, as the older members of the society move on there comes younger people who care precious little about their ethnicity. A few censuses ago, given the interbreeding in the country, more and more people were identifying themselves as ‘mixed’. So confusing is this issue that obviously mixed people sometimes choose to adopt the ethnicity of one parent ahead of the other and demonstrate how confusing this whole idea of ethnicity is. By appealing to race, ‘Only an Indian can attract Indian votes’, former President Bharrat Jagdeo is telling all who would listen that the race card has come out for the elections. Two weeks ago, he said that his party would not allow anything that would signal a descent to using the race card. Some things are easier said than done.
Thursday April 02, 2015
Letters... Where your views make the news
FROM ALL INDICATIONS, THE PPP’S SHIP IS SINKING DEAR EDITOR, Desperation leads politicians to do and say strange things. These are desperate times for the once invincible PPP. We are hearing some very strange things from the PPP’s quarters. We recently heard that Moses Nagamootoo, in 2008, said that he was not Indian. That revelation by the PPP camp was followed by two other stunning revelations. First, it was revealed that Dr. Walter Rodney was a Pan Africanist who was proud of his African ancestry. Second, we hear from the PPP side that embrace of their ethnic identity by Eusi Kwayana, Tacuma Ogunseye, David Granger and David Hinds should be emulated by all Guyanese. Seriously? This is double standard and political dishonesty of the highest order. Even from a desperate PPP, this one takes the cake. Maybe they have had the pollster do some polls for them that shows the
Coalition winning the upcoming elections. Is the PPP’s ship sinking? Now, what is this thing about Nagamootoo saying he is not Indian, but Guyanese? What is the crime? None whatsoever. All Moses was saying is what all politicians have said. In our sensitive ethnic environment, politicians, as a rule, don’t play up their ethnic identity for fear of being branded racists. The preferred identity is the civic identity-Guyanese. This is where our political discourse has been since independence. All of the political parties and Civil Society have agreed that this is the politically correct identification. A few of us, including this writer, have been hammered for invoking ethnic identity. I can’t count the number of times I have been called racist for discussing or affirming ethnic identities. But you see, I don’t want to be President, so I can be politically incorrect. The laughable thing here is that Nagamootoo
apparently made this statement when he was in the PPP. He was not condemned then. Clearly the PPP was not uncomfortable with the statement. But now, in the moment of desperation, they are telling East Indians that Nagamootoo don’t like them; he is ashamed of his Indianness. When they want to cuss Hinds and Granger, ethnic identity is racist. When they want to cuss Nagamootoo, ethnic identity is not racist. And worse, when they want to appeal to ethnicity for vote-getting purposes, ethnic identity is noble. Hypocrisy and Double Standard. After fooling Guyanese for years that Walter Rodney was only concerned with multiracialism, that he was not concerned with race; that he had nothing to do with Blackness, we now hear that he was a Pan Africanist. Really! The last time I checked Pan Africanism had everything to do with (Continued on page 31)
I hope President Ramotar will remember to fulfill his promise DEAR EDITOR, Sometime in February 2015, I was watching my TV when I was lucky to catch a live call-in programme on a local channel featuring our President, Mr Donald Ramotar, a person whom I always admire for his humility and honesty, and along with him, Mr Seeraj from the RPA. During this programme, a female called in to complain about the loud music emanating from two popular discos, especially on Mondays, causing great discomfort and annoyance to the residents of Charity and to a greater extent, the Catholic Church and the hospital. This woman’s complaint could not be more true, as I could attest through this letter that I as a Catholic had this experience with the noise from these discos. Because of this noise, the priests of the Catholic Church cannot perform their duties in a place of tranquility and more so have proper evening classes
with the children staying at the Catholic dormitory. The priest of this church has made several complaints to the Charity Police Station which I am sure are recorded. The President’s answer to the female caller was that he would have discussed this matter with the Divisional Commander, and himself and Mr Seeraj publicly said that residents have a constitutional right to enjoy the peace, tranquility and comfort of their surroundings. My reason for this letter is because it seems that the President has forgotten his promise when he walked out of the TV studio, because up to this day this nuisance has continued unabated, compliments of the Charity Police Station. There are two questions to this matter: Could it be that the proprietors of these places have high political connections and/or maybe in the Guyana Police Force, making them a part of the untouchables in Guyana.
The Easter Monday holiday is coming up, and this is a day when the volume of the music increases ten-fold, without any intervention by the police to curb the noise. I feel, like many others in Guyana, that strong laws and systems should be legislated on noise pollution to protect the people, especially the sick, the elderly and the school children from this scourge in our society, not forgetting places of worship and hospitals. I would like to share this thought in this letter for the ruling politicians to ponder on. You could have two super rich friends go into a polling booth with two bags full of cash, but what counts are only their thumb prints, and twenty poor persons with no cash against you going into that booth are more powerful than your two friends. I hope President Ramotar will have an opportunity to read this letter and remember to fulfill his promise. Member of the Catholic fraternity
PEEPING TOM right on complaints about corruption DEAR EDITOR, Peeping Tom is absolutely correct in stating in “Denial can lead to delusion” (Mar 31) that the PPP’s avoidance of addressing the corruption issue is preventing the party from winning a landslide in the coming general elections. Conversations about perception (no evidence offered to substantiate the allegations) is all-pervading even in the diaspora or Region 11 (North America and beyond). It is hurting the PPP and it also has its negative effects on the APNU-AFC alliance. I recently travelled to Guyana and I had an earful of complaints about
corruption involving members of the government and the opposition, but no evidence to support them. Last week, I was in Trinidad and Grenada, same complaint among Guyanese there – “all dem politicians corrupt, including those in the opposition’, is a common remark everywhere. But when asked if they have evidence to support the allegations, they went blank. In New York, perception about corruption is the subject of conversation at wakes and funerals, after church service, after juma, and during bhojan time at the mandirs. The recent Navratri festival was fertile ground for conversations about Guyana’s politics
and inevitably people rail against corruption excoriating both government and opposition and their roles in it. “Dem ah only full dem pockets”; “All a dem want position to full dem pocket and nah care about the people”, are how people see politicians. Almost everyone, on both sides of the political or racial divide, wants the government to clamp down on corruption. The Peeper is right about people’s views of the progress the country has made. In spite of their complaints of corruption, Guyanese at home and in the diaspora generally agree the country has made a lot of progress. They feel (Continued on page 31)
Thursday April 02, 2015
Kaieteur News
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Letters... Where your views make the news Letters... Where your views make the news
REGIONAL COURT Let Nigel Hughes return to the podium doing an excellent job DEAR EDITOR, I have no intention of convincing anyone of my support for the coalition. My public utterances, my involvement in this struggle, my activism and personal sacrifices will bear testimony. I will go before you on bended knees and swear to you that once the breath of life is in me. I will never support the PPP. The coalition must understand that there are some people who will not compromise the truth because of political expediency. They must understand that there are some who will stand solidly behind and beside them in this struggle for change and never fail to identify where they are going wrong. The coalition is wrong to take a decision that Nigel Hughes will not be allowed to speak at major rallies, as we move closer to national elections. APNU must not be allowed to influence such a decision in the Partnership. Hughes has been absent from the podium at Linden and Whim. This questionable development has caused many to speculate about his health and whether he is fit to do his duty. Nigel Hughes is one of the most eloquent and articulate persons in that marriage of seeming convenience. I can assure you that he is fit and well to effectively address the hundreds of thousands of coalition supporters and Guyanese in general. This unadulterated nonsense that he will overshadow David Granger
can be no valid consideration. The coalition needs all the help it can get at this crucial juncture. We cannot pander to PPP propaganda about Nigel and ignore their fear of his Rodney-like image. The PPP must not influence the coalition and decide for us who is fit or unfit to face the electorate on the public platform. The PPP have attempted to smear Hughes in their desperation to silence him. I watched in trepidation, a few days ago, as Nigel was being interviewed by Chris Chapwanya about the removal of a videotape at a crime scene. This is playing right into the hands of the PPP. The timing of that interview speaks volumes. Hughes did not commit any crime. This is where the nonsense is glaring. Bharrat Jagdeo is allowed to take centre stage in the PPP’’s national campaign with no regards to his credibility and track record. Mr Jagdeo lacks the skills of a good public speaker. Yet, the PPP courageously field him to their supporters and the nation as a whole. The strategy of the PPP is not only clear but also bold in impressing on their supporters that he is clean. On the other hand, Nigel Hughes is cast aside, giving our supporters the impression that it may not be a good strategy at this time to give him the public prominence he deserves. Nigel Hughes is a dignified and disciplined leader. He will not make a public issue out of this situation. I can
imagine his pain and disappointment. He has given to this struggle all he has got and more. He must not continue to be a victim of political expediency and the coalition’s tactic of raw opportunism. Further, we are yet to see the coalition’s manifesto or understand what their strategy is; the strategy cannot just be the marriage of David Granger and Moses Nagamootoo. The electorate is not foolish. We cannot remain silent in the face of these contradictions while screaming in a frenzy that we have already won the elections. We cannot continue to whip up our supporters while disregarding the history of elections in Guyana. The fact remains that the majority of PPP supporters will vote solidly for them. We have a history of our supporters not doing the same. It is dangerous to be optimistically shouting that we are winners without recognizing that that in itself may make a large block of our supporters not bother to make the effort to go out and vote. We can hope that the marriage of unity swings the pendulum away from the PPP and the coalition secures victory but we must work hard and pull out ever stop in the quest to see change in Guyana. Let Nigel Hughes return to the podium. Norman Browne
DEAR EDITOR, The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is celebrating its tenth anniversary, and although only comprising three countries (now four because Dominica joined six weeks ago) a large number of cases were filed and disposed of. The regional court which was inaugurated on April 16, 2005, is doing an excellent job according to a Londonbased Barrister Edward Rooney. The Guyana-born lawyer, who has been following the activities of the regional court and has read all the decisions, said that he is very impressed with the judgments/rulings both in its original and appellate jurisdictions. He made reference to two cases. One was the Shanique Monique case in which the court in its original jurisdiction found that the Barbadian immigration authorities breached the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas when they denied entry of the young Jamaican woman. The Court also awarded damages to her. The other case Rooney was impressed with was an appeal from Barbados in which the President of the
Court Sir Dennis Byron made a scathing attack on Barbadian judges in the System Sales Ltd and Arletta Brown-Oxley case, in which he noted that it took 16 years for the Barbadian court to make a decision. President Byron said that the inordinate delay has denied the parties their legal right for a fair and early trial. However the comments from the Head of the CCJ were criticized by one of the lawyers in the case, Queen’s Counsel Vernon Smith, who said that the CCJ placed too much emphasis on the delay in delivering judgments, rather than dealing with the legal issues of the case. He went further and made a rather unfortunate statement when he said that Barbados should have nothing to do with the CCJ. It is rather unfortunate that so far only four jurisdictions have abolished appeals to the Privy Council and accepted the CCJ as the final appellate court.
Dominica has recently joined Guyana, Barbados and Belize. However, the CCJ serves all 13 jurisdictions in its original jurisdiction which interprets the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. Statistics show that 98 applications have been filed to date and 88 have been disposed. It is surprising that 77 appeals have been filed and 62 disposed of. In its original jurisdiction, 10 applications were presented and seven disposed. I have said over and over, I cannot see the wisdom in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago not abolishing appeals to the Privy Council when these two large countries were in the forefront two decades ago in encouraging countries to join the regional court. Moreso these two countries gained political independence 52 years ago. St. Lucia is expected to join soon and the other OECS countries will soon follow. Oscar Ramjeet
Thursday April 02, 2015
Kaieteur News
Canadian high commissioner commends CARICOM Single Market
Robert Ready
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Canadian high commissioner to Jamaica, Robert Ready, has commended Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states on the significant advances made in the CARICOM Single Market, including the liberalization of the market for services and the free movement of goods and movement of skills. Ready was addressing media workers and government officials during the opening ceremony of a CARICOM Single Market media workshop on March 20 in Kingston, Jamaica. The workshop, one of several activities that fall under the CSM Information Flows project is funded by the government of Canada through the CARICOM Trade and Competitiveness Project (CTCP). The high commissioner noted that substantial support for the Single Market had come through the Canadian-funded CTCP to assist member states in putting administrative and regulatory systems for the Single Market in place to ensure each and every Caribbean national can benefit from the free
movement of goods, services, labour and capital within the region. He said the government of Canada was pleased to be able to partner with CARICOM to the tune of $15 million Canadian dollars through the CTCP to implement new and in some cases extensive reforms of existing legislation, regulations, and associated procedural and administrative arrangements to operationalise the CSME. Such changes, he observed must be reflected in national priorities and coupled with the right skill sets developed through appropriate education programs. “The CARICOM Trade and Competitiveness Project is promoting a more integrated Caribbean community in order to increase opportunities across the region for the average CARICOM citizen,” the high commissioner stated. To this end, he expressed the hope that regional integration would continue to provide Jamaica and the other member states with numerous opportunities. Ready also called on CARICOM to not only focus on developing regional trade,
but to take its place in the international trading system. He said this was becoming increasingly necessary as the rest of the world moves internationally to consolidate its trade relations. The media workshop, attended by more than 20 media workers from Kingston-based media houses, is one of several activities funded through the CTCP under component 300 entitled the CARICOM Single Market Information Flows Project. The project is mandated to set the framework for heightened public education and awareness on the CSME led by the focal point ministries in six CARICOM member states. This includes capacity building initiatives, worksite meetings, sustainable public education strategies and information channels, and workshop training of the media, teachers and spokesperson to spread the word among their significant stakeholders and publics. The project is being implemented in Belize, Jamaica, Dominica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Guyana. (Caribbean News)
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Kaieteur News
Thursday April 02, 2015
Thursday April 02, 2015
Vote for me and there will be full transparency. So transparent, in fact, that everything you will see. Vote for me and there will be accountability. So accountable, that those in the wrong will be found guilty. Vote for me and everything will be free. Vote for me and VAT will be free. Vote for me and school lunches will be free, uniforms for the children will be free, school books and the school bus will be free. Vote for me and every
Kaieteur News
citizen above the age of eighteen will be entitled to free housing. Vote for me and water will be free. Vote for me and electricity will be free. Vote for me and education will be free. Vote for me and all health care will be free. Vote for me and all medication will be free. Vote for me paddy will be free. In fact, if you vote for me, all seeds will be free. Vote for me and milk and cassava will be free. Vote for me and every school child will
receive a monthly allowance of $20,000 from the government. Vote for me and pensions are going to be increased by 500%. Vote for me and all pensioners are going to have free spectacles. Vote for me and pensioners are going to be given the opportunity to travel free on all minibuses and hire cars. Vote for me and all pensioners will be given a free house. Vote for me and all investors will not have to pay any interest on their loans.
Dem boys seh ...
Guyana vex visa story not true De whole of Guyana was happy when dem read de Waterfalls paper early yesterday. Dey know when dem read de paper every day is like reading part of their religious book. Well yesterday was All Fools Day, and everybody know that somebody gun do something to trap somebody and turn back and laugh. Dem does seh, “I ketch you deh; I got you deh.” De Waterfalls pull wan All Fools Day prank. It carry a story that seh four big man visa get tek way. De phone start ringing even before de sun come up or cock crow. By 8 o’clock de morning dem boys phone battery dead. Everybody calling to find out is who. One lady call she neighbour soon morning, “Nayba, God bless America. Dem do de right thing. You know how lang I did waiting fuh something like this?” A pastor hold up he bible and seh God doan sleep. One Government Minister sister wake up de Waterfalls boss man fuh find out if she brudda is one of dem. When he ask she wha
she talking about, she tell him that she brudda read de paper and couldn’t find de continuation on page 38, and he believe that he name might deh pun de missing page. She seh she brudda call he son and ask de boy to find de end of de visa story. De kid check fuh over five minutes and seh, “Dad, there is no page 38. De paper end at page 32.” De boss man and all get fool, because he and all end up looking fuh page 38. He cuss de pressmen and ask why dem lef out de other pages. Is dem tell he that is an All Fools Day trick. While this happening, Minister calling Minister to ask if dem visa get tek. One Minister tell he colleague, “Boy, I was just about to call you, because Donald call me and ask me ‘bout you.” When de visa story start fuh hot up de place, people start fuh call on one another. People who read de story start fuh ask dem mattie readers if dem paper got page 38. Nuff of dem run behind de vendors and want to beat
dem fuh find page 38. One vendor seh de only 38 he know ‘bout is a gun. More than 100 people call de Waterfalls paper fuh seh that dem wouldn’t buy de paper no more just because that story wasn’t de truth. De embassy vex too. Dem and all get bombarded wid calls. Dem want to know why so many people call dem and tell dem thanks and call down de blessing of de Creatah pun dem. De phone calls mek dem run to read de paper. Dem boys hear that dem smile and laugh at de joke, but dem stop laugh when de Lunch Man call de embassy after he read de story. That push de embassy to put out a statement in which dem seh dem didn’t find it funny. But dem boys de mean fuh mek people happy and mek dem laugh. One thing is fuh sure though. Dem boys promise you, de readers, that de next time y’aal see a story like dat it will be de truth and nutten but de truth. Talk half and remember, is only one April first in a whole year.
The government will pay the interest. All investors will be allowed to retain all their profits. All employees will not have to pay any taxes. Vote for me and all rice farmers will be given free tractors and those leasing state lands will not have to pay any fee for such leases. Vote for me and free drainage and irrigation will be provided. Vote for me and for every acre of land that is planted, the farmer will receive $100,000. Vote for me and all policemen will receive a 100% increase in salary, all nurses 200% and all teachers 300%. Free transportation will be provided to take these categories of workers to and from work.
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Vote for me and television will be free, radio will be free and the newspapers will be free. Vote for me and every Guyanese will receive not just a free computer but a free printer and all the paper and ink required. Vote for me and every house will have internet. Vote for me and every teenager will get a free Blackberry, and just for added benefits, $200 top- up every month. And just to show you that my government is considerate of those who are poor and do not have enough funds to top-up their phone accounts, we will give free credit of $500 each month. Do I have your vote now? Vote for me and we will
build all schools free. Vote for me and the sea defences will be free. Vote for me and the roads will be free. Vote for me and the bridges will be free. Vote for me and everything will be free. What do you mean by asking me how I will pay for all of these things? Have you not been hearing me? Everything will be free. So there will be no need for money. No need for property. No need for taxes because everything will be free, free, free!
Gunmen hijack Post Office ... From page 6 normally sleep on the Regent Street pavement, said yesterday morning they noticed two well dressed men standing on the northern side of Regent Street. According to them, there was a tall Indian man dressed in a pair of black pants, cream shirt and a tie and his accomplice, a man of African descent, was clad in a pair of blue jeans and a tee-shirt. The eyewitnesses said that another was in the line standing among the pensioners who were waiting to collect their cash. “The two was over there watching over. After, the bus pull up and the escort and the money man carry in the two bag” one said, it was then that the bandits pounced. They said the bus driver had left his door open and the well dressed bandit came and stood by the bus. Shortly after, the accomplice jumped in the passenger seat and the
well dressed bandit hopped into the driver's seat and drove off. The eyewitnesses told this publication that the third bandit hopped into the bus and they sped off through Orange Walk, Bourda. One of the eyewitnesses said too, “Everyday this bus does come with two armed guards. One does go in and one does be on the road but this morning we only see one go in. The other one didn't stand on the road so we ain't even know if he been deh.” “Nobody ain't know no robbery happen. Nobody ain't make no alarm. The thing happen just so sudden. The Post Office did full with people. How the man run out of here and jump in the bus and pull off…how they operate you ain't even know a robbery happen,” they said, commenting that the operation was a smooth one.
According to them, the civilians were left puzzled about what transpired. “The people just stand up. How this go on, you wouldn't believe it's no robbery because it was no guns, no ammunition, not even a knife you see.” According to them, the occupants of the bus made “no sound” and no shots were fired. When contacted, Public Relations Officer of the Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC), Telesha Whyte, said that in light of the robberies committed on various post office locations, their security staff has been increased. She pointed out that this robbery was committed outside of the Post Office and that GPOC has made all efforts to ensure that there is adequate security, especially since this is pension period. GPOC, she said, is assisting the police in their investigations.
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Kaieteur News
Thursday April 02, 2015
=== The Freddie Kissoon column ===
Do the officers respect the Commissioner of Police? On Tuesday night, I traveled up to Berbice in Region Six to be the guest on the television interview programme hosted by popular Berbice lawyer Charrandas Persaud. We stayed back after the show to have a curried gilbakka dinner with Charrandas’s family. On our return to Georgetown, it was midnight when we reached
the village of Cove and John, East Coast Demerara. There was a police road block at Cove and John. Under the law, the police cannot stop a vehicle and search it at random. They must have reasonable suspicion. The police cannot see a car coming down the road, with the driver minding his/her business, and without any
knowledge whatsoever of criminal involvement by the driver stop the car and search it. They must have a modicum of knowledge that the occupants are not clean. We pulled over and I told the officer in charge that his ranks were stopping vehicles at random, none of the ranks including him, had identification tags, there wasn’t the visible presence of a marked police vehicle. I showed them the printed guideline by the Commissioner of Police which was published in the Kaieteur News. The officer agreed that the road block was improper. The only hitch was that a heated quarrel broke out between Leon Hunt of the Alliance for Change and a junior rank, because the rank was laughing throughout the
entire episode and it got Hunt angry. That was that. The police acknowledged they were doing an act that was improper and they withdrew. But I know the Guyana Police Force disrespects the very laws that empower them so I did something twenty-five minutes later and caught the police red-handed. At about half the hour past midnight, from my home, I rang the Cove and John police station to inquire if there is a road block in progress. The young lady said, “Yes Sir.” I then said, “Madam, are you sure it is going on right at this moment? “ The answer was, “Yes Sir.” I asked to speak to the officer in charge of the station. What happened is that after we left, the road block
personnel came out again. A female voice said that Sergeant Holder is in the washroom and I should call back. She requested my name. I gave it and that was a big blunder on my part. Ten minutes elapsed and Holder was still in the washroom. Twenty minutes elapsed and Holder was still in the washroom. I suggested to the police on the other end of the line to go into the washroom to see if Holder had fainted or may have collapsed. She told me that she is like Holder; they stay for a long time in the washroom. I insisted that I want to speak to the person who has jurisdiction over the ranks manning the road block because the road block was being conducted in violation of police procedures. None of the ranks I spoke to volunteered to give me their names except one who said her name was Kissoon. She was just mocking me. There is no female rank that works at Cove and John station by the name of Kissoon. After lengthy exchanges, another rank suggested I speak to Inspector Gravesande at Sparendaam. The time was moving to one o’clock in the morning. I got hold of Inspector Gravesande. He said the Cove and John ranks informed him of my complaints and on hearing that he immediately called Cove and John and disbanded
Frederick Kissoon the road block. He agreed the ranks at the station should have proffered their names. This is the second road block intervention I have made and have published in my columns since the Kaieteur News boldly carried the instructions of the Commissioner of Police. Did the Commissioner of Police con the nation when he made the announcement, meaning that he has no intention to stop these indecent road blocks but just uttered his words to get some public relation mileage? Or is it that the ranks have no respect for their chief of police and will continue to stop citizens at uncivilized hours without adhering to the clearly laid-out guidelines? Which one is it? The Commissioner also said that traffic ranks can no longer do routine stops of vehicles. That, he said, has been discontinued. This was in the newspapers. I see routine traffic stops every day since the Commissioner laid down his edict. These ranks at the roadblocks do not put on their name tags because they are doing their usual shakedown. Traffic cops will continue the routine checks because that is how they collect their “small piece.”
Thursday April 02, 2015
Kaieteur News
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Military injection into APNU is Granger’s worst mistake - Dr. Luncheon The apparent “military injection” into A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) as well as the influx of former military officers into the country to support the opposition party in the lead up to the May 11 polls, without a doubt, worries Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon and the government. While he is of the firm conviction that his reasons for such a position are plausible, he believes that the conspicuous presence of retired army officers in the APNU also symbolizes the worst mistake the coalition’s leader David Granger has made in his life. This concern was expressed during a press conference Dr. Luncheon held yesterday at the Office of the President. Dr. Luncheon was at the time responding to questions over government’s apprehension at the support being extended to APNU by the army and former members
of the military. The Head of the Presidential Secretariat said that he sounded the warning on that matter before and hopefully in some of his future writings in the media, on the “military-political alliance”, he will reveal the depth of Government’s concern about the militarization of the leadership of the main opposition party. Commenting on the basis for government’s concern about the feature of military presence in APNU, Dr. Luncheon gave the media a synopsis of his experience in 1992 and his role in interacting with the army which served under the stewardship of the People’s National Congress (PNC). He said that Guyana went down a road under the PNC, which saw the disciplined forces, the military in particular, having a strong presence in enforcement. “One may want to argue that point but it would not be sustained…One however,
APNU Leader, David Granger
Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon
could not argue that the military was not an active participant into the years of repression under the PNC government. I don’t think we can argue about that. But my concern dates back to 1992 when the then President, Dr. Cheddi Jagan said to me, ‘Luncheon you and the then Minister of Home Affairs, Feroze Mohamed, are tasked with
rehabilitating the image of the military in the minds of Guyanese because this is a national institution. “This perception of it being a hand maiden of the PNC and perpetrating all of the indecencies and the excesses on the Guyanese people has to be changed. We cannot allow that to cloud our image and our judgment on this military. Luncheon and
Mohamed y’all got a job, clean up. Mek sure that this image is corrected,” Dr. Luncheon recalled. The Cabinet Secretary said that he believes that the current administration did a good job because a professional military now exists. However, Dr. Luncheon said that he does not believe that people’s memory is so short that when one observes those same two bodies (the military and the PNC) getting back together again, it doesn’t reasonably raise suspicions and causes us to wonder what if. He added, “Suppose, heavens forbid, APNU were to succeed in the 2015 elections. Obviously they would have a serious debt to pay to the military.” Dr. Luncheon also said that there has never been since 2011, any question in Parliament about appropriations or the denial of resourcing for the military. He said that the APNU
has, somehow, always seen it “appropriate” to join with the government in its financing and resourcing of the military. Dr. Luncheon said that he spoke about this matter and wrote to Granger, saying to him that the military injection into his partnership is the worse decision he ever made in his life. He said that the injection probably has a lot to do with the successes in being the APNU and PNC head but warned that “it will reawaken and arouse fears that have been dormant.” The Head of the Presidential Secretariat said that he does not believe that it would be in the interest of the military and will write on these matters since much of what APNU has done thus far is, according to him, nothing but “politicking.” “But it had undone 23 years of patient cultivation by this administration. That is what Granger has done…and who got ears fuh hear let them hear.”
Big parties absent from GECOM's briefings on Nominations Day
GECOM's CEO, Keith Lowenfield addressing the reps. The two main political groups contesting the upcoming general elections were absent Tuesday during a critical briefing on Nominations Day which is to be held on Tuesday. According to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), it conducted a briefing on Tuesday for political parties to talk about the arrangements for Nominations Day. Missing from the briefing were the ruling People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and the A Partnership For National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC). “GECOM took the opportunity to outline the essential
There were no representatives from the two main contenders during a critical briefing on Tuesday.
logistical arrangements that political parties and their supporters need to observe carefully, as they accompany their respective leaders to present their lists of candidates to GECOM.” In his open remarks, GECOM's Chairman, Dr. Steve Surujbally, underscored the Commission's unhappiness with the incessant denigration that continuously emanates from some sections of society about GECOM's level of transparency about its preparations for the upcoming elections. GECOM, he said, is working assiduously and optimally, and has been constantly providing timely up-
dates about the preparatory work being done by the secretariat as it prepares for the free, fair, transparent, and professional conduct of May 11 General and Regional Elections. “He urged the political parties represented to continue to engage GECOM and enquire about any issues they may have with any aspect of the Secretariat's work. Dr. Surujbally also expressed his disappointment that only six political parties showed up for the briefing.” GECOM's Chief Election Officer, Keith Lowenfield, reminded the various political party representatives that Nominations Day is April 7,
2015 and that City Hall will be the venue to be utilized for Nominations Day activities. The CEO also emphasized that Nominations Day activities will commence promptly at 13:30hrs. Political parties presenting their respective lists of candidates must enter the compound of City Hall through the western entrance on Avenue of the Republic. “The CEO lucidly stated that no more than 20 persons from each political party would be allowed to enter the City Hall compound and into the Chambers of the City Hall to present their respective lists of candidates to GECOM. Upon the completion of the
presentation of their respective lists of candidates, political parties and their representatives will depart City Hall using the eastern door of the Chamber and exit the compound through the Southern Gate at Charlotte Street.” The CEO indicated that the media would be placed in a special section of the building that provides them the best vantage point possible for their unimpeded coverage of the Nominations Day activities. “GECOM will continue to ensure that all activities leading up to May 11 will be conducted in an efficient and transparent manner.”
The political parties represented at the meeting were the National Front Alliance (NFA), The United Force (TUF), Healing of the Nation Theocracy Party (HNTP), United Republican Party (URP), Working Peoples Alliance (WPA), Organization for the Victory of the People, Guyana National Congress (GNC), and the Independent Party (IP). Elections are being held early after the Government, facing a no-confidence motion over unauthorized spending last year, suspended Parliament and then called for early polls amidst growing pressure to correct the stalemate.
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Thursday April 02, 2015
Thursday April 02, 2015
Kaieteur News
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Increase in Region 10 malaria cases ‘likely migratory’ A vector control worker demonstrates how a fogging machine works
Concerns about an outbreak in sections of Region 10 have been put to rest by officials of the Ministry of Health. This has reportedly been the direct result of a proactive response by the Ministry of Health, through its Vector Control Services Unit. Following reports of an upsurge in malaria cases, a team, led by Vector Control Director, Dr. Reyaud Rahman, headed to the Region to investigate whether there was an outbreak. The team had ventured to the localities of Mabura, 58 Miles and 47 Miles. The Ministry was alerted to the concerns by residents of the aforementioned communities who had earlier appealed for the Vector Control Services Unit to visit the area in order to ascertain whether the malaria-like symptoms being transmitted, particularly within the 58 Miles zone, was indeed malaria. Malaria is a mosquitoborne disease transmitted by the female anopheles mosquito. The mosquito is said to be endemic in the mining Regions of One, Seven, Eight and Nine.
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the symptoms of malaria include: fever and flu-like illness and can include shaking chills, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea may also occur. But according to Dr. Rahman, investigations have proved that those manifesting symptoms of the disease are those who would have ventured into mining areas, particularly in Region Eight. He noted that while it is not impossible for an outbreak to occur in Region 10, the Ministry was able to confirm that the current surge is the result of migratory cases. He disclosed that “basically these were people living in 47 and 58 Miles, in Mabura, and most of them would have traversed there (Mahdia) for work, but they would have started getting sick after they came back home. We were able to figure this out after we went up there and assessed the situation for ourselves...they don’t have the transmission there at the moment,” the Vector Control Director explained. “Some of
them know that they came from the mining areas with malaria...they came from mining in Mahdia and some even came from Frenchman, but we need to ensure that a diagnostic system is in place,” said Dr. Rahman. Moreover, he noted that a glaring need in 47 Miles, for instance, is for health personnel who have the capability to undertake Malaria Microscopy. But according to him, “the situation has pretty much been taken care of to some extent...we just need to have
Trial date set for alleged sexual assault by Bartica DEO A trial for the sexual assault matter involving the Region Seven District Education Officer (DEO), Akbar Chindu, is slated to commence on April 22, next. The trial date was announced yesterday by Magistrate Dellon Bess when the matter came up at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court. It is alleged that the DEO committed the unlawful act against an 18-year-old woman who was formerly employed at the Region Seven Education Department as an office staffer. Chindu previously appeared before
Magistrate Bess and pleaded not guilty to the sexual assault charge. When Chindu appeared last month before the Magistrate he was asked if he was aware that if the allegation of sexual assault was true he could be convicted. He responded by disclosing he was indeed cognisant of that fact. The court hearing came to an end then with the DEO being granted $50,000 bail. The woman, who has appeared in court each time the matter was called, reportedly resigned her position, shortly after
reporting the allegation of sexual assault earlier this year. Both parties, represented by lawyers, appeared in court yesterday and were informed of the trial date. However the Magistrate instructed Chindu to return to court on April 9 but he informed the woman that she does not necessarily have to present herself on that date. This publication understands that it is likely that the Regional Education Officer and a Welfare Officer, to whom the woman had first shared the sexual assault incident, are likely to testify at the trial.
a person trained.” He however revealed that already a health worker there has been identified for an intense six-week training programme in Malaria Microscopy in Georgetown. Another health worker at 57 Miles has already been trained to undertake Malaria Microscopy. Also as part of the strategic plan to tackle the malaria cases, Dr. Rahman said that activities were streamlined including a refresher malaria course to ensure that the health workers at the Mabura Health Post are prepared to effectively deal with any patient who presents with symptoms of the disease. “This is to ensure that diagnosis is of a high standard,” said Dr. Rahman as he went on to disclose that during the recent visit, health facilities, pregnant women and children under five were given Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) to ensure that they were protected from malaria.” He however noted that the treated bed nets also have the capability to safeguard the users from other vector-borne diseases. As part of plans to sustain collaboration with Region 10, Dr. Rahman said that he will maintain a line of communication with the
Regional Authorities so as to ensure the commitments made will be fulfilled. Dr. Rahman had also earlier informed that a senior vector control officer from Georgetown is slated to visit the Region and it is expected that all participants from recent community meetings will gather in order to be further enlightened about vector control methods. There were also plans streamline fogging exercises in the Region too. The Vector Control Services Unit has been working assiduously to reduce the prevalence of malaria. Over the past year approximately 150,000
individuals from mining communities were tested for malaria. And, according to Dr. Rahman, because of intensified efforts to tackle the disease over the past few years the cases of malaria have been slashed by more than half. A few years ago the number of malaria cases was more than 30,000. Dr. Rahman is therefore optimistic that the ongoing vigilant efforts will see the cases being lowered to as little as 10,000 next year and according to him, “that is going to be a significant help to us as we work towards bringing malaria down to less than 1,000 cases in the next five years.”
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Kaieteur News
Thursday April 02, 2015
Woman was dismembered in her home Relatives and neighbours of US based Samantha Benjamin are still reeling from shock, after it was confirmed that the dismembered body found on the Annandale foreshore last week Thursday was positively identified as hers. The woman’s identity was confirmed by relatives who examined the remains at the Memorial Gardens and Crematorium in Le Repentir Cemetery yesterday, and identified distinguishing marks on her body. This was almost a day after police swooped down on a Buxton Middle Walk house and found damning evidence of a brutal murder. One man, who was in the house has been arrested and is being interrogated by investigators. However, the man is reportedly maintaining that he had nothing to do with the woman’s death, changing his story to say that he was in Berbice when her body parts were discovered just off the seawall at Annandale. Police cracked the case on Tuesday night after a cousin of the slain woman led detectives to the house Benjamin was staying in. Inside, Detectives found a blood-spattered floor, pieces of flesh and two bloodstained sheets. There were also signs that someone had attempted to clean up the gory scene. However when this newspaper visited the property yesterday, evidence of blood was observed from the bottom of the floor as well as on a wheelchair that investigators believe was used to transport Benjamin’s remains to the foreshore. These were clear signs that Benjamin was slaughtered in the house. But investigators are reportedly garnering nothing
The house where Benjamin was killed.
substantial from neighbours, most of whom claimed that they saw or heard nothing suspicious that could have pointed to the woman’s murder. One neighbour told this newspaper that he is in a total state of shock that something like that could have occurred so close to his house. He said that he had seen Benjamin from time to time, but would only greet her with the customary “good morning” or “good evening”, since he knew she was visiting from overseas. According to the neighbour who lives alone, on Thursday last he observed all the commotion surrounding the discovery of a body on the foreshore, but did not venture to the scene which is about 400 meters away. He too had no clue that the body had anything to do with his overseas based neighbour. It was only after he saw a
number of police ranks outside the house on Tuesday night that he became interested in what was taking place. At first he thought that something had happened to the labourer he had seen tending to the chickens. “But then I see police hold he up and I see a man with a camera, and I say, ‘Oh s*#t, is wha dis man do?’” Even up to then he still did not link the situation to the discovery of the body on the foreshore. It was only this morning that he made the connection. “Is dis morning when I see police, den I start to pick up, and I say, ‘wha?’ I see people coming and start to look, look, den I say man something happen… But I sorry though,” the neighbour said. He claimed that he did not know the young labourer personally, but he maintained that the suspect has to know something about the
woman’s death. He added though, that he did not see any strange characters at the house recently. Kaieteur News understands that the 40 -year -old Benjamin had returned from the US a few months ago and was living with her exhusband. She then moved to her father’s house on Middle Walk, Buxton, close to the seawall, about a month ago and shared the property with a labourer who was hired by her relative to rear chickens. Investigators became suspicious about the labourer when he reportedly claimed that the last time he saw the woman was on Friday last. But Benjamin’s headless and limbless corpse was actually found on Thursday. He however changed his tune yesterday, telling detectives that upon his return from Berbice on Friday, he discovered the woman’s room door was locked and he assumed that she had
Samantha Benjamin
returned to her husband’s house or had left for the United States of America. Police have received reports that the trader was planning to purchase a car. It is suspected that the killer learnt of this transaction and tortured, and subsequently butchered Benjamin to get his hands on the money. According to reports, her shocked ex-husband claimed that he was to have accompanied Benjamin to buy the car. But then repeated calls to her phone went to voicemail. The dead woman’s aunt, Bridgette Abrams told this newspaper that she had no clue that the dismembered body was that of her niece. “I was seeing on TV about this unidentified woman and I was saying to myself, ‘like this woman ain’t have no family’. That was the first thing that came to my mind,” Abrams told this newspaper.
She said that she did not miss Benjamin since, “she is an adult…she was busy and I was busy also.” But nothing prepared her for the news she received on Tuesday night. “I was coming from church and I got a phone call and the person said that the woman was my niece. I asked the person if they mad! But then the person said yes. I can’t describe my reaction,” Abrams explained. Ironically, Benjamin’s death is a double blow for Abrams. She lost her stepson, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission engineer Trevor Abrams, who was gunned down on February 27 last on the East Bank Demerara Public Road in the vicinity of Diamond. Now that the body has been positively identified, investigators are awaiting the post mortem examination to shed some light on how Benjamin met her death.
Thursday April 02, 2015
Kaieteur News
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Linden minibus drivers allege bullying by cops A group of Route 43 minibus owners and drivers allege that they are being bullied by other bus owners and private citizens, who have teamed up with police officers stationed at Linden. The group, which consisted of 30 men, said that they are being bullied for refusing to comply with a $1000 fee to a self-proclaimed Linden Bus Drivers’ Association, in addition to the $100 compulsory fee stipulated by the Town Council. One driver, Norris King, explained, “Of recent, a section of drivers and nondrivers of Linden Bus Park formed an association. We don’t agree with it. The problem that we’re having is that they want to control what we do, how we do and when we do everything...” King continued, “Council
charges our buses $100 every time we go there to load, because the buses use their Municipal park. But these people are calling for an additional $1000 every time we stop there to load. Council gives a receipt to us every time we go into the park- now these guys aren’t giving us any receipt, but they ordering us to give them a $1000.” The men said that they are yet to be informed what this $1000 is for. Another driver, Omally Sampson, said that members of the “Association” have close links to the police and have enlisted those officers in their scheme to bully the drivers. When the drivers have finished loading their minibuses at the park, Police are waiting around the corner to relieve them of the passengers, and escort the vehicle to the Mackenzie
Some of the drivers
‘Wild Hog’ takes police through alleyways and mud in escape bid Well known character Clarence Williams called “Wild Hog”, 41, of Angoy’s Avenue could not outrun two young and energetic police officers although he chose to dart through an alleyway and jump into a gutter in his escape bid. All over he went the young constables were after him until he was apprehended. Even with his battle with them in the mud he came out second best as he was apprehended and taken into custody. The ganja he was carrying and trying to conceal was dug up from in the trench and taken away. According to reports, around 12:05 hrs on Monday, police were on mobile patrol in the Vryman’s Erven/ Angoy’s Avenue area when they noticed two men coming out of an alleyway on a Blue Jailing motor cycle. Upon seeing the lawmen the bike stopped and Williams who was the pillion rider and was carrying a bag dismounted and started to run. Two young constables disembarked the vehicle and gave chase. ‘Wild Hog’ who recently came out of jail darted through an alley hotly pursued by the constables. He continued his escape bid by jumping into a drain through an alley and into a gutter still pursued by the cops in their full uniform. The cops, by now muddy, were able to catch up with Williams in a gutter burying a haversack in the drain. Another tussle ensued and continued until the lawmen were able to overpower the culprit. The haversack was dug
Police Station. “They can’t put us out of the park, because we already pay the $100 council fee. But the association marked off an area where you have to go to load the bus, and they collect the $1000 there. We decided not to go in that area, so we using a section at the back of
the park… But after we finish loading, when we drive out of the park to proceed to Georgetown, the police are out there to escort us to the Mackenzie Police Station. They are emptying all the passengers out the bus, because we did not go into the $1000 line that they
marked off.” The drivers explained that the police have been harassing them constantly, and have been trumping up traffic charges, and taking some of them before the court, because they refuse to pay the $1000 fee. One of the (continued on page 28)
Scene of a marked off section of the 43minibus loading area in Linden
Clarence ‘Wild Hog’ Williams
up and was found to contain a white plastic bag which held a number smaller ziplock bags containing what was suspected to be seeds, leaves and stems of the marijuana plant. The substance was subsequently tested and found to be 121 grams of marijuana. Williams was charged with being in possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking. He appeared in the Reliance Magistrate’s court on Wednesday before Magistrate Sherdel IsaacsMarcus and was remanded to jail. His next court appearance will be in the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court. Williams has been in an out of jail on a number of matters including sacrilege,
robbery, possession of house breaking implements and break and enter and larceny and escaping from lawful custody. He had dug himself out of his cell and scaled the fence before making good his escape. He had fled to neighbouring Suriname where he was recaptured and brought back to Guyana. While on remand Williams had also assaulted a police officer. He had also written to the Chancellor of the Judiciary citing victimization and undue delay and a number of other issues. Williams was one of the men who were brutally chopped and burnt on Tuesday May 23, last year by a rival gang in the New Amsterdam Prison.
US, FFP commission model farm... From page 20 Institute, Tutorial Academy Secondary, Vryman's Erven Secondary, and the New Amsterdam Technical Institute with their agriculture programmes. The nearby New Amsterdam Prison will also be a part of the project. Each entity will be given a plot to cultivate under strict supervision of various entities including the Ministry of Agriculture. Olderndorf Carriers assisted with the digging of the ponds, construction of the fence and the gate. While FFP was responsible for the sourcing of the fishes, construction of the caretaker house, the lights, shade house, garden implements and other facilities. Speaking at the formal ceremony which was held at the All Saints Multipurpose hall, Hunt commended all those
responsible for the coming to fruition of such a wonderful programme, and was more than pleased with what he saw. He was happy to know that the FFP Inc. which garners most of its support from The USA was an integral part of the programme. He stated, “This is what the USA is about, helping people to help themselves” what he just saw could be achieved with hard work and dedication. He said that Berbice could soon become the bread basket of Guyana and the Caribbean. He was happy that his government has contributed to the success of the programme. He had high praise for Mr. Foster and stated that with persons like Mr. Foster around success must be achieve. He is happy to be of help at any time. Ken Vincent, Chief Execu-
tive Officer of FFP, was also happy that the programme has come to fruition. He said that FFP is not only about food, but is always there where there is a need. He had words of encouragement to the students present and urged them to grab their education with both hands, alluding to his days as a student in New Amsterdam. He expressed thanks to Charge D'Affairs Hunt, the President, Government and people of the USA for their tangible and more than worthy assistance. He urged those present to assist the FFP so that they could continue to receive help. Also speaking at the ceremony was Finance Officer of Olderndorf Carriers Marlon Jaundoo, Reverend Ross of the All Saints Church and an official of the Fisheries Department.
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Kaieteur News
Thursday April 02, 2015
GT&T launches plan to Brazilian pastor, two boost internet speed others busted with ganja - also slashes prices for qualifying customers by 50% Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) yesterday announced the implementation of 10 megabytes per second (MBPS) internet speeds, some five times the old speed at no extra cost to its customers. This initiative has already been made available to communities on East Bank Demerara such as Eccles Housing scheme, Diamond/ Grove, Nandy Park and Providence; and Enterprise, East Coast Demerara. At the launching, GT&T’s Chief Executive Officer, Radha Krishna Sharma, explained that the service upgrades would be implemented in phases. By the end of May it was expected that the upgrades would be available in Houston (EBD), Central Georgetown, Sophia, South Ruimveldt and Beterverwagting. Another change coming from the telecommunications giant is the package offered to both residential and business customers. According to Sharma, the
internet service will be sold in bronze, silver and gold packages within the range of 1MBPS to 10MBPS. Bronze package subscribers will pay the usual $4,999 monthly. Silver package customers will pay $9,980, but with improved speeds of up to 5MBPS, while gold package subscribers will now have up to 10MBPS, at $14,979 per month. Current GT&T internet subscribers will automatically experience the new speeds at reduced prices. However, Sharma went on to say that this upgrade will only be available to approximately 70 per cent of customers. This is due to the areas where their homes are located. Bartica and Kwakwani never migrated to the E-magine service and thus, do not qualify for higher speeds. Instead, they will receive price reductions of up to 50 per cent. “I want to see this launch in the context of (GT&T’s) consistent developments in this country. Since our entrance, we have invested in excess of $58 billion in the development of our
infrastructure. It will have a transformative effect in our businesses,” the CEO stated. Asked about the possibility of an upgrade to 3G and 4G speed for mobile devices, Sharma stated that while his company is prepared for that upgrade, the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU) has the responsibility of providing the appropriate spectrum for that upgrade. He stated that though such an upgrade was in progress, the matter was out of GT&T’s hands for the time being. He however, expressed the hope that such a situation could not last indefinitely. Public Relations Officer, Allison Parker, also offered useful tips to customers on enhancing internet speeds, such as installing a filter to their phone. Filters could be collected from any GT&T business office, at no charge. She also advised customers to reboot their modems periodically and to limit the number of connected devices so as to improve their experiences.
Cocaine in ornaments accused freed From page 16 Magistrates’ Court after two witnesses continuously failed to be present at the trial. Williams and Plass were accused of having in excess of two grams of cocaine on July 7, 2014 at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) Timehri, for the purpose of trafficking. According to facts, Williams was at the airport posting cargo destined for Dublin, Ireland on
Amerjet flight number F68120 when members of the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) along with police ranks conducted field tests on the cargo which contained eighteen (18) pieces of ornaments. This exercise revealed the cocaine concealed in the ornaments. The drug was subsequently weighed and amounted to 17.736 kilograms. At the time of the bust, Will-
iams was five months pregnant. When told of the offence, she admitted that the package was given to her by Klass. When ranks arrested Klass, he reportedly told them that someone had given him the boxes. Both Plass and Williams were represented by Attorney-at-law Patrice Henry. Klass was previously convicted in Barbados on a drug trafficking charge.
Mahdi De Souza
Jessica Perriera
Marceo Leandro
A Brazilian pastor and a domestic worker were among those persons charged with trafficking in narcotics, and appeared before Chief Magistrate Priya SewnarineBeharry on Tuesday at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. Pastor Marceo Leandro, 52, and Mahdi De Souza, 28, both of Arusaopeiro Oscar Ferreira, Boa Vista, Brazil, along with Jessica Perreira, 21, a domestic worker, denied the allegation which alleged that on March 27, at Lethem, they had 3300 grams of cannabis in their possession for the purpose of trafficking. Throughout the hearing the defendants were afforded the services of an interpreter. According to Police Prosecutor, Corporal Bharrat Mangru, on the day in question, the police at Lethem were carrying out their routine searches, when they stopped and searched a Brazilian registered vehicle which was proceeding to the neighbouring Portuguesespeaking country. The police found four black plastic bags strapped with transparent scotch tape under the driver’s seat. A closer check of the bags revealed a quantity of leaves, seeds and stems suspected to be cannabis. The police also found a purse belonging to Perriera that contained R$5,000, which is equivalent to G$500,000. The money, Mangru said, is currently lodged at the Lethem Police Station. Mangru added that the defendants were told of the offence but they remained
silent. They were subsequently arrested and charged. Defence Counsel Latchmie Rahamat made a bail application on behalf of the trio. She affirmed that special reasons exist for her clients to be released on bail. According to the Attorney, the defendants would usually travel from Boa vista to Lethem every weekend to do their usual shopping. Counsel said that her clients parked their vehicle on the Guyana side of the border, left it unlocked and went shopping. After completing their shopping they returned to the vehicle but never noticed anything strange inside. While proceeding back to Brazil, they were stopped by the police and a search was carried out on the vehicle. It was then that the suspected narcotic was found, Rahamat argued. Despite the quantum of drugs mentioned in the charge, the lawyer requested reasonable bail for the defendants. She said that the prosecution will not be able to prove the evidence in the matter, since the bag containing the illicit substance does not belong to her clients. Further, Counsel asserted that the defendants have no
intention of absconding and if granted bail, they will return to court to stand trial. Rahamat asked the magistrate to use her discretion, while informing the court that her clients are willing to accept bail under any special conditions. However, the prosecutor contradicted most of counsel’s submissions. He insisted that the defendants be remanded to prison. Corporal Mangru contended that the defendants are all flight risks; since they are Brazilian nationals with no ties to Guyana and there is likelihood that if granted bail, they might not return to court. Additionally, he cited the seriousness, prevalence and penalty the offence attracts if the defendants are to be convicted. The prosecution’s objections were upheld and the trio was refused bail and remanded to prison. After being informed that her bail application was refused, the lawyer then requested that the money lodged at the station be returned to her client. The magistrate then made inquiries with the prosecutor about the money. The matter was transferred to the Lethem Magistrate’s Court, for June 1.
Linden minibus drivers ... From page 27 drivers said that a Police Inspector by the name of Browne, told him that he has to appear before a Magistrate today, to answer charges, but if he joins the association and pays the money, the harassment will end. “They never invited us to a meeting so that we could give our input in something that will affect us. They didn’t set up a forum where we could have voted on what we agree with and what we don’t,” one driver related.
The drivers were saying that while they are not against the transportation association, they think that it’s only fair that as minibus owners and operators, they would have the right, not only to work hassle free, but to be a part of the decision making of what governs their minibus operations. The Mackenzie Police Station informed that Inspector Browne, was in the compound, but unreachable. Several attempts to contact the traffic unit of Mackenzie Police station were also futile.
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Kaieteur News
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Thursday April 02, 2015
SALON
SERVICES
Make Up Courses with Mac, Bare Minerals, Black Opal and Sacha cosmetics. Call: 647-1773/660-5257 Experienced hairstylist & Barber @ Gtmemoirs Salon & Spa, Farm E.B.D –Tel: 6543614; 667-3999
PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY,ETC.–CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 2161043; 677-6620
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Eagle’s fridge re-gas $8,000 & washing machine repairs. Phone: 697-2969, 646-0966 Your Dream Yard Today! Stunning designs, Assortment, colourful plant choices, Professional Landscapers Tel: 219-0468/ 648-1821 Staying in your own home…. We assist seniors with meal preparation, personal hygiene, grooming etc – Call: 609-1981 REPAIRS AT LOW COST: FRIDGES, AIRCONDITIONERS, WASHING MACHINES, TVS, MICROWAVES, FREEZERS- CALL:6294946 OR 225-4822
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VEHICLE FOR SALE Toyota Prado, Price$4.7M Neg. Call: 643-2403 Smart Choice Auto: Premio, Allion, Bluebird, Spacio, Fielder, Carina 212, Sienta, IST – Call: 652-3820/665-4529 We buy & sell vehicles for cash, also parts available & 30 seater buses; Extra Cab pickups; 2006 Tacoma - Call: 680-3154 AT192, 212, Allion, unregistered Premio, Hilux Surf, BNN, RZ & Pit-bull, 7 seater super custom. Cash / terms- Call: 680-3154 One Noah Van - $1.4M negotiable – Tel:641-2763; HL2 Hilux - $6.4M negotiable – 641-2763 First Class Auto: Allion, Premio, Bluebird, Sienta, Runx, Axio, Verossa, Mark 2-Call : 609-8188; 638-3045 Toyota Avensis $2.550M negotiable – Tel:645-0078; 603-0078 Unregistered 2003 Toyota Spacio front & back camera, TV/ navi / CD player 52000 KM - $2.250M – Contact: 682-5117 1 Dyna Canter GPP - $2M, 1 Mitsubishi GNN - $1.5M, both vehicles are in excellent condition – Tel: 680-3863 Toyota Hilux Vigo GSS series – Tel:656-3561; 6976510 New Model Allion $3.300, 2004 Spacio $2.050, Registered Spacio $1.7M Call: 655-3400 Leyland Truck, DAF GSS 6715; GNN 5366, Toyota IST PMM 755 – Contact: 6135212; 664-1030 Unregistered Corolla Fielder, 2003, body kit, fog, TV/ navigation, dark interior, rear spoiler, roof rack. Call: 6175536 Unregistered 2008 Nissan XTrail fully loaded -$5,550,000 negotiable- Tel: 611-1833 Blow Out Sales @ Star Cars Auto Sale- Premio, S p a c i o , B l u e b i r d , I S T, Benz, Alteeza, free alarmTel: 679-3140
We repair fridge, freezer, AC, washer, dryer Call Omar: 2310655, 683-8734
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SERVICES GIVE YOUR RIDE THAT SHOWROOM FINISH! PAINT CORRECTION TO REMOVE SWIRLS, SCRATCHES, WATER SPOTS, WAX – TEL: 6107108 For the best deals on tents – Call Vicky Rocky: 276-0548; 276-0299. Enjoy our special prices for weddings VEHICLE FOR SALE 2-20 Ton Dump Truck, American- Tel: 661-6161
L-Touring with original skirts, excellent condition, 15" rims, DVD, Alarm Call: 694-6609/ 233-2538 1 Toyota Dyna 2 1/2 tons truck, 16 feet flay bed tray, GKK 5500 in excellent condition - Telephone: 3335825;617-3233 Truck in excellent condition, 1 Ivaco E cargo 5 tons dump truck, GSS 1096 Year 2006 Telephone 333- 5825; 6173233 Continued on page 31
Thursday April 02, 2015
Kaieteur News
Page 31
US Senator Bob Menendez charged with corruption (BBC) A top US senator, Bob Menendez, has been charged with corruption. The Democrat from New Jersey is accused of using his influence to illegally benefit a Florida eye doctor, who he admits is a long-time friend. He is charged with 14 counts including bribery and conspiracy, but insists he did nothing wrong. Mr Menendez is the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee and an outspoken critic of President Obama’s policies relating to Iran and Cuba. The 14 counts include conspiracy and making false statements, as well as eight counts of bribery. He is considered one of the most influential Hispanic American lawmakers in
US Senator Bob Menendez
Congress, and is the lead author of legislation that would tighten sanctions imposed against Iran. The multi-year investigation first came to light in 2013, when federal authorities raided the office of
Dr Salomon Melgan - who was also indicted. Their investigation focused on whether Mr Menendez used his office to advocate in favour of Dr Melgan including by intervening in a Medicare
First TV debate of UK election campaign to pit Cameron against six others (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron will face off against six political rivals later today in the first TV debate of Britain’s national election campaign, hoping the format will allow him to cast himself as a statesman against squabbling pretenders. The contest comes before an unusually close election on May 7 in which neither Cameron’s Conservatives nor Ed Miliband’s Labour
Party have a clear lead, leaving the stewardship of Britain’s $2.8 trillion economy in the balance. The debate, due to be held in a former pie factory near the northern city of Manchester, puts leaders of fringe parties like the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the left-wing Green Party on an equal footing with the Conservatives and Labour,
$125,000 bail for welder on fraud charge A welder accused of obtaining money under false pretence was yesterday arraigned before Chief Magistrate Priya SewnarineBeharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, to answer to the offence. Zamaledeen Khan, 43, pleaded not guilty to the charge which alleged that on March 16, at Camp Street, with the intent to defraud, he obtained the sum of $600,000 from Bibi Shaw, by falsely pretending to Shaw that he was in a position to sell her one motor vehicle knowing same to be false. Khan first appeared at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court on March 31, to answer a related charge, which stated that on March 16 the woman gave him $150,000 at Ogle, East Coast Demerara, after he told her that he was in possession of the said motor vehicle and falsely pretended that he was in a position to sell it to her. He had pleaded not guilty on that occasion and was sent on pre-trial liberty to the tune of $150,000. Khan was represented by
Attorney at Law Moti Singh, who informed the court that the victim is willing to accept compensation. However, when the defendant was asked by the Magistrate if he has the money to pay back the victim, he told the court that he was presently unemployed. According to the prosecution, Shaw and Khan are known to each other and on March 16, at Republic Bank, Camp Street, the victim gave the accused an additional $600,000, for the said vehicle. But when Khan failed to produce the vehicle as was arranged, Shaw became suspicious and reported the matter to the police. Khan was subsequently arrested and charged. Police prosecutor Bharrat Mangru had no objections to bail and it was granted in the sum of $125,000 and the matter was transferred to Court 11 before Magistrate Annette Singh.The Magistrate ordered that statements be filed and Khan is expected to make his next court appearance on April 22.
who have dominated British politics for decades. Leaders of nationalist parties from Scotland and Wales and Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, the junior party in the country’s coalition, complete the lineup.
billing dispute. Dr Melgan attracted more attention last year when government data revealed that he had received more money from Medicare reimbursements in 2012 than any other doctor in the United States. He donated large sums of money to Mr Menendez’s reelection campaign. “We celebrated holidays together,” he once told journalists. “We have been there for family weddings and sad times like funerals and have given each other birthday, holiday and wedding presents, just as friends do.” Mr Menendez has admitted to taking multiple trips to the Dominican Republic on the doctor’s private jet and initially failed to properly pay for the trips. In 2013, he reimbursed Dr Melgan for two of the flights. Later, his office admitted to another flight on the jet from Florida to New Jersey in 2011 - and said that the senator had repaid Dr Melgan for it. Mr Menendez, 61, has served in the Senate since 2006, and was in the House of Representatives for more than a decade before that.
(From page 30)
PROPERTY FOR SALE Parfaite Harmonie, West Minister, Onderneeming, Cornela Ida, Tushcen, etc Contact: Pacific Development Inc # 223-6035; 231-8480 Houses & land available for sale in Non- Pariel, Enmore, Providence & Diamond Contact: Pacific Development Inc # 223-6035; 231-8480 2 Storied concrete house, 3 bedrooms upstairs; Land 95X65, House 65X32 @ Vieira H/Scheme, Land of Canaan E.B.D – Tel: 6420867; 644-6479 Two storied concrete house, two bedrooms upstairs, two bedrooms downstairs $20Million @ Block “8” Mon Repos, E.C.D- Tel:625-1514 Property situated in East La penitence, Georgetown, 2 storied concrete buildings in need of repairs, price negotiable –Tel: 662-6173
Letters... Where your views make the news
From all indications, the... From page 4 race and Black Identity. But the worst (or best?) is left for last. We now hear from the PPP that the examples of Hinds, Granger, Ogunseye, Kwayana and Rodney-all proud Africans - should be emulated. These men have not abandoned their roots. Moses why you don’t emulate them. Oh how kind of the
PPP boys. Maybe I will do like some others and mount the PPP platform tomorrow. But no thanks, I stand on one side of the fence, and I too old to jump fences. The Trinidadian calypsonian, Winston Peters (Gypsy), sang a telling calypso in 1986 -”Captain the ship is sinking/Captain the seas are rough/We gas tank almost empty, no electricity/
We oil pressure reading low/ Shall we abandon ship, or shall we stay on it?”/ And perish slow/ We don’t know/ Captain you tell we what to do”. Nagamootoo must be having a positive effect on Indian Guyanese. Keep on doing what you doing Moses. From all indications, the PPP’s ship is sinking. David Hinds
PEEPING TOM right on... From page 4 Guyana is better off today than what it was twenty years ago. However, they feel the country would have made a lot more progress if corruption were minimal or non-existent. But the people remain divided in their support of who or which party they want to win the election. They say they prefer continued progress, even if it comes with some corruption, rather than no progress, when there was also corruption under the previous regime. On corruption, as I advised complainants, if you have evidence go to the police or the leadership of your party or the media. Those who are corrupt should be removed from their position. And the Peeper is right, if the PPP is reformed and the
perceived tainted removed or demoted, the party will boost its chances of regaining a majority. People look forward for fresh faces of people of integrity and probity in the PPP list. Because several opposition members are also fingered in corruption, as alleged to me in conversations (stress - no evidence offered), there is no electoral advantage for either side. But as the Peeper
penned, if the President were to announce he would appoint a commission to investigate or receive complaints about (from the public) corruption, the election is over. Donald Ramotar easily wins re-election, because no one pointed a finger at him and it is the one issue that has resulted in apathy in the heartland. Vishnu Bisram
FOR RENT PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620 Wash bay and snackette @ 15 Good Hope E.B.E – Call: 680-4990; 277-3033 Business spaces for rent @ West Shore Plaza Building, Ruimzeight, W.C.D, Public Road – Tel:269-1524; 6563561 GT TOOL RENTALS: COMPACTOR; CHIPPING HAMMER RANSOM & FLOOR SANDER, , JACK HAMMER, CONCRETE SAW & MORE - CALL: 675-0767, 627-5098 2 Bedrooms to rent located at D5 Wallers Delight W.C.D Tel: 674-4929; 662-0187 Concrete 3 bedrooms upper flat house fully grilled, parking available @ Agricultural road Mon Repos, E.C.D- Call:687-1050 1- 95X50 business place for rent located at Mon Repos Public Road E.C.D –Tel: 6276789; 656-0602 Semi furnished lower flat $50,000 per month @ Uitvlugt W.C.D – Tel:2773743; 626-0150
TO LET One apt to let to a female tenant. Newly constructed. Rental $15,000 per month. Call 610-9493 for Deon. Three bedrooms upper flat in Diamond New Scheme Section “A” 3rd Avenue – Tel: 623-2795 Kitty one (1) fully grilled three (3) bedrooms downstairs Tel: 641-2939 Furnished 2 bedroom apartment with AC Available for long/short term rentalCall: 665-2548 Spacious semi furnished 2 bedrooms house at Parfaite Harmonie –Tel: 680-6137; 6283889 1 One bedroom apartment @ C/Ville, shop space – Call: 650-0716; 667-7863; 223-1051
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Kaieteur News
Thursday April 02, 2015
About 90 percent of Brazilians Venezuela dismisses reported PetroCaribe cutback reject Rousseff’s austerity drive: poll BASSETERRE, St Kitts (WINN) — Venezuela has dismissed a Miami Herald report that suggests the country has drastically reduced its shipments of oil to PetroCaribe member nations, which include several in the Caribbean. The publication, quoting a Barclays Bank report, said Venezuela has cut in half its subsidized shipments of crude oil to Cuba and other PetroCaribe member nations to 200,000 barrels per day, down from the 400,000 shipped in 2012. The Barclays Bank report said the oil agreements have been a heavy burden for Venezuela, according to the Miami Herald, adding that in the last decade, the agreements have cost Venezuela up to $50 billion. However, Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Delsy Rodriguez who visited St Kitts and Nevis on Monday, told WINN FM that attempts are being made to discredit PetroCaribe. PetroCaribe is “pretty strong,” Rodriguez said. “You should ask that to the street people,” she
Delsy Rodriguez
responded, when asked about the report. “That’s not true,” she insisted. “Even, we are improving PetroCaribe… the problem is there is a war against PetroCaribe, because PetroCaribe brings solutions to the poor people,” she said, reiterating that the report was not true. According to the Miami Herald, the cuts deepened after August 2014, when crude oil prices began to drop. It quotes Barclays Bank as saying that Cuba has received about 55,000 barrels per day since September, nearly half of what it received in 2012. The report also stated that shipments to the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, which account for
about half of the program, have dropped 56 percent and 74 percent compared to 2012. PetroCaribe was also one of the subjects discussed when Rodriguez held talks with Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris on Monday. “We were talking about PetroCaribe, about the bilateral relations, we were talking about the strength [of] our bonds of [our] relationships. We’re talking also about executive order of the United States against Venezuela,” she said. Venezuela on Monday gave St Kitts and Nevis a cheque for EC$16 million to assist the country’s former sugar workers.
affairs counselor Joshua Polacheck said a person threw the “suspicious package” over the wall yesterday morning, leading officials to close the facility to visitors for a few hours. Neither he nor police described the package. The embassy was reopened to visitors around noon. Jamaican authorities detained a suspect and U.S. officials “are working closely with Jamaican security personnel,” Polacheck said. Citing an ongoing investigation, Jamaica police force spokeswoman Constable
Yolonda Henry declined to provide any specifics about the person in custody. A few hundred onlookers gathered across the street from the Kingston embassy as heavily armed security forces positioned themselves around the complex. While in Jamaica, Obama is scheduled to meet heads of the Caribbean Community political grouping for discussions on security, trade and other topics. The last sitting U.S. president to visit the Caribbean island was Ronald Reagan in 1982.
BRASILIA (Reuters) Roughly nine out of 10 Brazilians disapprove of President Dilma Rousseff’s austerity drive aimed at winning back investor confidence in the economy, a nationwide poll showed yesterday. Brazil’s sharp economic downturn is the main reason that Rousseff’s popularity has fallen to the lowest level of any Brazilian president in at least the last 20 years, according to the Ibope opinion poll commissioned by the National Industry Confederation, or CNI. The number of Brazilians considering her government “great” or “good” fell to just 12 percent, down from 40 percent in the previous Ibope poll in December. Sixty-four percent of respondents rate the administration as “bad” or “terrible, the poll showed. Surveys by other pollsters have shown a similar trend. Since she won re-election in October, Rousseff has made a dramatic policy shift, cutting expenditures and raising taxes on everything from fuel to imports to plug a massive fiscal gap caused by years of unchecked
Dilma Rousseff spending. Ninety percent of Brazilians disapprove of Rousseff’s handling of taxes while 89 reject the rise in interest rates. In its previous poll in December, Ibope said the disapproval of the government’s tax and interest rate policies was 72 and 68 percent respectively. Growing popular and political resistance to the austerity has raised fears among investors that Rousseff could at some point
ease the belt-tightening needed to prevent Brazil from losing its investment grade rating. Rousseff said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Tuesday that she will do whatever it takes to meet this year’s fiscal savings goal. Rousseff’s popularity has also suffered because of a multi-billion dollar corruption scheme at staterun oil company Petrobras, which prosecutors say involves members of her own Workers Party. CNI’s head of polling, Renato da Fonseca, said however, that the economy was foremost on most people’s minds. “The economy is what is clearly influencing our poll... and the outlook is not good,” Da Fonseca said. The poll shows Rousseff’s popularity fell sharply among young and less educated Brazilians, two groups that have helped keep the Workers’ Party in power for the last 12 years. The survey of 2,002 people was conducted between March 21 and March 25 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
In Jamaica, man hurls ‘suspicious IMF approves US$39 million disbursement for Jamaica package’ at US Embassy
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Jamaican soldiers and police took positions around the U.S. Embassy in the island’s capital yesterday after a man hurled a “suspicious package” over the building’s wall. The incident came just over a week before President Barack Obama is due to visit Jamaica on April 9 ahead of the Summit of the Americas in Panama. Embassy public
WASHINGTON, USA — The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed the seventh review of Jamaica’s economic performance under the programme supported by a four-year, SDR 615.38 million (about US$932 million at the time of approval) arrangement under the extended fund facility (EFF). The completion of the review enables an immediate purchase of an amount equivalent to SDR 28.32 million (about US$39 million). The EFF arrangement was approved on May 1, 2013. Following the board discussion of the review, Mitsuhiro Furusawa, deputy managing director and acting chair, made the following statement: “The authorities’ commitment to the program under the Extended Fund Facility remains strong. Programme performance is on track and all quantitative performance targets for end-December were met. Structural reforms have progressed broadly on schedule. “Macroeconomic performance continues to be good and economic confidence has reached a two-year peak. The decline in oil prices should help lower inflation expectations
and boost demand. Still, stepping up the pace of reforms is essential to boost growth and employment. Bold efforts are needed to reform the energy sector, improve the business climate, and advance investment in critical infrastructure. “The budget for 2015/16 demonstrates Jamaica’s continued fiscal discipline and will help keep public debt on a sustainable path. Maintaining the momentum for fiscal consolidation over the medium term requires boosting revenue and improving public sector efficiency. This involves strengthening customs and tax administration and further broadening the tax base. It is also essential to improve public financial management, accelerate the reform of the public sector, and contain public sector wage costs. “Buttressing the financial sector hinges on meeting the key milestones for reforming the retail repo sector. Completing the transition of the retail repo businesses to a trust-based framework requires careful management. Implementing the Banking Services Act will be a necessary step to improve financial sector stability further.”
Thursday April 02, 2015
Kaieteur News
K/News reporters walk out after being insulted at Brassington’s press conference
DISRESPECTFUL: Kit Nascimento Management of Kaieteur News yesterday said it is condemning in the strongest terms the disrespect shown to its reporters by a Public Relations Consultant who Government has been hiring to defend a number of largescale Government projects. Shortly before a scheduled, joint press conference at the National Communications Network (NCN) headquarters yesterday afternoon hosted by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL), the Consultant, Kit Nascimento, started making
several disparaging statements to reporters of the newspaper. He first wanted to know how many reporters were present in the studios from Kaieteur News. After learning that there were five, he suggested that newspaper’s reporters were not capable or competent enough to ask questions singularly, hence the numbers. Asked by Senior Reporter, Leonard Gildarie, to clarify his statements, Nascimento said that he had already made his remarks. He was repeatedly asked to explain the remarks. There
was silence from GPL’s Chairman, Winston Brassington and GuySuCo’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Raj Singh, during the verbal assault by Nascimento. It was after Nascimento’s refusal to retract his statements that the reporters of Kaieteur News decided to leave. Earlier, the PR official, who also moonlights for Brassington on the Marriot Hotel’s project and on the Amaila Falls hydro-electric warned of possible restrictions during the press conference. Nascimento has been critical of Kaieteur News asking questions, in the past - even restricting them. Yesterday, Kaieteur News’ Publisher Glenn Lall made it clear that he is fully in support of his staffers or other media employers who, believing that they have been disrespected chose to take action. “Mr. Nascimento was clearly out of line with his comments and utterly disrespectful to my staffers and for his employers, Mr. Brassington and others, to sit quietly while media workers are being disrespected says a lot. We will not back down or be fearful of our responsibilities to the people of Guyana in asking questions.”
NGSA KICKS OFF This year’s National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) kicked off yesterday, and saw 15,200 primary school students from all over Guyana setting the foundation for their secondary education. A visit to some of the primary schools in Georgetown revealed Grade Six students all “geared up” to face any challenge presented by the exam. Chief Education Officer, Mr. Olato Sam, speaking to candidates sitting the NGSA at his alma mater, St. Gabriel’s Primary School, told the students not to be excited, because “this is not the end, but the beginning of a new chapter.” He went on to encourage the students to do their best, and informed them of the tremendous potential they have to achieve anything. The results of the NGSA
have progressed over the years, Sam explained. “Results have been improving every year. And what is more important is that we definitely expect that these children will carry over the good work to the secondary school. Now, what we’ve noticed is that the schools have been performing more on par with each other, so the disparity that existed between schools like St. Margaret’s and other schools is not as pronounced as it used to be. All schools are competing quite equally so we are really looking forward to seeing those kinds of outputs this year.” Present at the assembly were parents who were visibly more nervous than their children. Samantha Emmanuel, mother of twin girls who are sitting the exam at St. Gabriel’s Primary, said
that she is nervous and excited at the same time. She explained that she drilled the need to stay focused into her daughters’ head, and told them to work as hard as they possibly could to get the schools that they want. Wanda Campbell, another parent at the same school, said that although she is nervous she is confident that her son will come out successful, since his teachers went “above and beyond” to ensure that he and the other students are fully prepared. The NGSA comprises English Language, Social Studies, Science and Mathematics. The candidates wrote English Language and Science (Papers 1&2) yesterday. The exam comes to an end today as the candidates complete Social Studies and Mathematics (Papers 1 &2).
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Kaieteur News
Thursday April 02, 2015
First TV debate of UK election campaign to pit Cameron against six others (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron will face off against six political rivals later today in the first TV debate of Britain’s national election campaign, hoping the format will allow him to cast himself as a statesman against squabbling pretenders. The contest comes before an unusually close election on May 7 in which neither Cameron’s Conservatives nor Ed Miliband’s Labour Party have a clear lead, leaving the stewardship of Britain’s $2.8 trillion economy in the balance. The debate, due to be held in a former pie factory near the northern city of Manchester, puts leaders of fringe parties like the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the left-wing Green Party on an equal footing with the Conservatives and Labour, who have dominated British politics for decades. Leaders of nationalist parties from Scotland and Wales and Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, the junior party in the country’s coalition, complete the lineup. Cameron, whose personal ratings are higher than those of his rivals, carries bitter memories of the first televised election debates in 2010. Over the course of three such debates, strong performances
Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron by Clegg helped deprive the Conservatives of an outright victory. “There’s a reason why Cameron was very opposed to having these debates, partly because he thought it distorted the campaign last time, but also because he’s the man with everything to lose,” said Laurence JantaLipinski, associate director at polling firm YouGov. Cameron successfully resisted pressure to take part in a head-to-head debate with Labour leader Miliband, not wanting to hand his main rival a chance to improve his low personal ratings. Nor will he take part in a second TV debate next week between the five parties outside the coalition government. But he and Miliband were
last week subjected to separate but back-to-back question and answer sessions on TV. A snap opinion poll afterwards suggested Cameron had come off better, but later polls showed Miliband had exceeded expectations. The format for Thursday’s debate, which will give each leader just 60 seconds to respond to a question, as well as the chance to make opening and closing remarks, is likely to make for a disjointed dialogue, limiting the potential for Cameron’s rivals to hold him to account. “The party that can get out the pithiest quotes, the best one liners, and gets their point across in the most succinct way stands the most to gain from the format we’ve got,” Janta-Lipinski said.
RBC to sell its Suriname banking operations to Republic Bank TORONTO— Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) yesterday announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell RBC Royal Bank (Suriname) N.V. to Republic Bank Limited, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. “As we continue to focus our Caribbean operations on
markets in which we can be a leading competitor for the long-term, we have made the decision to sell RBC Suriname to Republic Bank Limited,” said Kirk Dudtschak, executive vice-president and head, RBC Caribbean Banking. “This transaction supports the successful repositioning of our Caribbean business for the
future and allows us to focus on markets where we can strengthen our operational capabilities and where we see opportunities for growth.” While financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, the purchase price approximately reflects the book value of RBC Suriname. RBC expects the transaction to result in a loss of CAN$23 million (before and after-tax) under International Financial Reporting Standards, largely related to an estimated writedown for the proportionate share of RBC Suriname goodwill and other intangibles. The transaction is not expected to have a material impact on RBC’s Basel III Common Equity Tier 1 ratio. The loss is based on current estimates and is subject to change and will be reflected in the results of the second quarter ending April 30, 2015. RBC will release its second quarter 2015 results and host an earnings conference call on May 28, 2015. (Daily Nation)
Thursday April 02, 2015
Kaieteur News
Kerry extends Iran talks, French foreign minister returns (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his German and French counterparts extended marathon talks in Switzerland yesterday for a second day beyond a self-imposed deadline to reach a preliminary agreement with Iran on its nuclear program. A diplomat close to the talks said late yesterday that a deal could be announced within hours but had not yet been reached, and the talks could still collapse. Kerry and German Foreign Minister FrankWalter Steinmeier announced they would stay at least until today. In a potentially hopeful sign, French Foreign Secretary Laurent Fabius returned for more talks after flying back to Paris the previous day because progress had been too slow. Six world powers - the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China aim to stop Iran from gaining the capacity to develop a nuclear bomb. Tehran wants to lift international sanctions that have crippled its economy, while preserving what it says is its right to peaceful nuclear technology. The sides were meant to reach a preliminary accord in the Swiss city of Lausanne which would provide an outline for a final deal to be reached by June 30. The preliminary deal was meant to be achieved by midnight on March 31, but the sides are under pressure not to go home empty handed. The powers and Iran said they had moved closer, but both sides accused the other of refusing to offer proposals that would break the deadlock. Washington said it was willing to walk away from the talks unless the sides could agree on a preliminary framework. The talks represent the biggest chance of rapprochement between enemies Iran and the United States since the Iranian revolution in 1979, but face scepticism from conservatives in both Washington and Tehran. Even if there is a preliminary deal, it will be fragile and incomplete and there is no guarantee that talks on a final deal would not collapse in the coming months. CHAOS, DISUNITY After missing the selfimposed March 31 deadline, the negotiators ended talks in the early morning hours yesterday with an air of chaos, disunity and cacophony as
delegations scrambled to get contradictory viewpoints across. Both Kerry and Germany’s Steinmeier announced their intention to spend another night in Lausanne to build on the progress made. “We continue to make progress but have not reached a political understanding. Therefore, Secretary Kerry will remain in Lausanne until at least this morning to continue the negotiations,” Kerry’s spokeswoman Marie Harf said. A French official said late yesterday that Fabius had decided to return to rejoin the talks, adding that this was not necessarily a sign that a deal was close. ý All sides have described the talks as fragile. Asked by a reporter if collapse of the negotiations was a possibility, Germany’s Steinmeier replied: “Naturally.” “Whoever negotiates has to accept the risk of collapse,” he added. “But I say that in light of the convergence (of views) that we have achieved here in Switzerland, in Lausanne, it would be irresponsible to ignore possibility of reaching an agreement.” He said he would consider further travel plans this morning depending on how the talks develop. New proposals and recommendations were expected later yesterday, he said, but the onus was on Tehran to make them. Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters it was the major powers who must budge, not Tehran. “Progress and success of the talks depends on the political will of the other party ... and this is an issue they have always had a problem with,” he told reporters. White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters in Washington “the time has come for Iran to make some decisions”. He repeated a warning that the United States was prepared to walk away from the negotiations before a June 30 deadline if no political framework deal
comes out of Lausanne. But as negotiators from the powers met Zarif again on Wednesday, Iran expressed optimism that an initial agreement was within reach. So did Russia, which is Iran’s main sympathizer among the powers. Senior Iranian negotiator Abbas Araqchi told state television that Tehran hoped to wrap up the talks on Wednesday evening. He added that he expected the parties to issue a joint statement declaring that “progress has been made in the talks and that we have come to a solution on key issues. We will have the solutions in written form.” Western officials questioned Araqchi’s optimism. “I think we have a broad framework of understanding, but there are still some key issues that have to be worked through,” British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told the BBC. The ultimate goal of the talks for Washington is to impose conditions on Iran that would increase the “breakout time” Tehran would need to develop a nuclear weapon if it should decide to pursue one. That would mean limiting the number of centrifuges Iran can operate to make the enriched uranium that can be used to power a bomb, and reducing its stockpiles. Washington’s allies in the region, especially Israel and Saudi Arabia, are strongly skeptical of any deal. Diplomats close to the talks said any preliminary deal would include a document with some key figures - such as permitted numbers for centrifuges and uranium stockpiles - though it would remain confidential for the foreseeable future. A preliminary deal would be a major milestone toward a final accord, but it would only be a first step and reaching agreement on details by June 30 will be difficult. The talks have stalled on the issues of Iran’s nuclear centrifuge research, the lifting of U.N. sanctions and their restoration if Iran breaches the agreement.
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Thursday April 02, 2015
Cricket is on the rise in the USA... RHTYSC to host Ansa McAl May... From page 40 more international matches being played there. “There is a lot of scope for the game in the USA, but we have to get the American kids involved to attract the market. The baseball players are interested in the T20 format since their game (baseball) also last for three hours,” said Fraser. He said that they hope to visit annually and will be happy to host any Guyana
team. Fraser declared that they have a strong female team which includes Guyanese Candacy Atkins, Triholder Marshall and Indomattie Gordial and they want to participate in t h e We s t I n d i e s f e m a l e tournament in Trinidad and Tobago in August. He expressed confidence that their female team will do well and the players have already
started to train for the competition. “However, the female players think that there is not much scope for them since the ICC stopped the Americas women’s qualifiers and they are pretty upset. Nevertheless we are hoping to use the WICB tournament to convince the ICC to restart the Americas qualifiers and I am confident we can get ODI status,” he stated. The tour concludes on April 5.
Nat U-17 spinners stifle USA U-18... From page 42 positive shots before falling eight short of only the second fifty in the Under-18 competition, when he was removed by Persaud. Nazeer sent back Ramnarine Chatura (14) and Renaldo Ali Mohamed (4) as Guyana slipped to 105-5. Only Sukwah of the remaining batsmen was up to the task of scoring freely on the sluggish pitch which made shot-making a difficult
task. The right-hander got little assistance for the remaining batsman but after he fell to Jash Patel, Nedd (4*) and Looknauth (7*) who finished the contest with a boundary with 20 balls to spare, saw Guyana to a well earned win. In the other matches yesterday the USA Under-15s lost by 77 runs to the Berbice Under-19s at Everest. Berbice made 187 and bowled out the Americans for 110 despite
Kishan Dass’ 49 while the Under-13 game against GYO was washed out. The series continues today with three more matches. The USA U-18s battle West Demerara U-18s in a 50-over contest at Wales from 09:30hrs, their U-15s face-off with Demerara U-15 at DCC in a 40-over game which starts at 11:00hrs and the U-13s oppose East Coast U-13s in a 35over at Ogle from 11:00hrs.
Thursday April 02, 2015 ARIES (MAR 21 - APR 19): A flash of insight helps you up the ladder of success. You’ve got an original way of doing things that sets you apart from the crowd. ***************************** TAURUS (APR 20 MAY 20): You could get the training you want by taking the unorthodox route. Studying with an expert or reading manuals on the side will put you ahead of the pack. ***************************** GEMINI (MAY 21 - JUN 20): Planning for the future will give you financial independence in your golden years. It’s never too late to start a savings account or an investment portfolio. ***************************** CANCER (JUN 21 - JUL 22): Lessons you learned long ago could come in handy quite unexpectedly. A business or romantic partner who needs reassurance may be acting out. ***************************** LEO (JUL 23 - AUG 22): It feels like a breath of fresh air now that changes are taking place on the work front. Perhaps you’ll be moved to a nicer office. Maybe you’ll be given a different set of responsibilities. ***************************** VIRGO (AUG 23 - SEP 22): A person who invites you to express your feelings turns out to be a valuable ally. Don’t be surprised if romantic sparks begin to fly.
LIBRA (SEP 23 - OCT 22): You’re thinking outside of the box, which yields fantastic results. Home life becomes particularly rewarding when you reallocate chores among relatives or roommates. ***************************** SCORPIO (OCT 23 NOV 21): Your social life is picking up quite a bit, allowing you to mix with all sorts of interesting people. If you’re looking for love, be sure to attend a social gathering in your neighbourhood. ***************************** SAGITTARIUS (NOV 22 - DEC 21): Your home life is undergoing a period of flux, which can be alternately favourable and challenging. ***************************** CAPRICORN (DEC 22 JAN 19): An unexpected trip allows you to express yourself in ways you ordinarily wouldn’t. It’s such a relief to mix with people who don’t know your history. ***************************** AQUARIUS (JAN 20 FEB 18): You have talents that you haven’t explored, mostly because of your present situation. Somehow, you haven’t felt comfortable venturing into unfamiliar territory. ***************************** PISCES (FEB 19 - MAR 20): Even though you have lots of friends, you don’t feel compelled to follow in their footsteps.
From page 41 two matches would be played along the lines of the highly successful Mash Cup organized by its sister club, Young Warriors Cricket Club and funds raised would be used to assist less fortunate families and to publish more information including anti-drugs and suicide posters. The winning team would take $70,000 and a trophy, the runner up $30,000 and trophy, the losing semifinalist $20,000,
while the Man of the Finals would carry home $10,000 and a trophy. There would also be prizes for the best batsman, best bowler, best catch and biggest six. Foster expressed gratitude to the Management of Ansa McAl especially its Managing Director Ms. Beverly Harper and Marketing Director Troy Cadogan for their continued support of the club. Regional Manager of
Ansa McAl Berbice Branch, Mark Bhikai stated that the RHTYSC and his company has over the years enjoyed a close and highly successful relations and expressed confidence that the tournament would not only be successful but would achieve all of its objectives. He congratulated the RHTYSC on its Silver Jubilee Anniversary and stated that Ansa McAl was proud to be associated with the RHTYSC.
KAMAL QUITS AS ICC... From page 37 president were greatly reduced following changes to the ICC constitution that came into effect in 2014 - the year Kamal, currently a minister in Bangladesh’s federal government, assumed
office. Those changes effectively turned the president into a figurehead and a bulk of the power was transferred to the chairman. Former PCB chairman Najam Sethi, who is scheduled to take over as ICC president from July 1, 2015,
had offered to step in following Kamal’s resignation. According to the ICC’s rules, however, the Bangladesh Cricket Board can nominate Kamal’s replacement to take charge of the role for the next three months. (ESPNcricinfo)
Thursday April 02, 2015
Kaieteur News
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Guyana’s CARIFTA Serena into Miami Games team grounded semi-finals with - Thompson will be lone representative 700th career win
Aubrey Hutson By Edison Jefford After four years of consistent performances at the Caribbean’s most prestigious Junior Track and Field Championships, The CARIFTA Games, Guyana’s locally-based athletes will miss the 2015 Games scheduled for this weekend in St. Kitts and Nevis. President of the Athletic Association of Guyana (AAG), Aubrey Hutson confirmed unfortunately yesterday that 11 locallybased athletes bound for the meet will have to remain at home unless an enterprising corporate entity comes up with US$20,000 to charter an aircraft. “We cannot go. We can’t get flights out of here; we can only get a chartered flight; unless we get US$20,000 from one of our good friends for a charter, the possibility of the team going is almost impossible. We really and truly tried our best,” Hutson said. Asked why the AAG
waited until the week of the Games to pursue flights, he indicated that their association had an arrangement where 15 seats would have been secured on Trinidad’s charter to the Games since January. Following the AAG CARIFTA trials three weeks ago, Hutson said that he confirmed the availability of the 15 seats with Trinidad and Tobago. However, he was subsequently told that the 15 seats on the Trinidad charter were taken after the association got a commitment from Caribbean Airlines to get Guyana to Trinidad. Hutson stated that he then pursued a similar arrangement with Jamaica and he was told that Jamaica has the 15 seats available on its charter headed for the Games. According to Hutson, he got Fly Jamaica involved to get the team to Jamaica, but was informed that Turks and Caicos snapped up the 15 seats on the Jamaican charter. He said that Fly Jamaica had also informed them that their flight today is cancelled. As a result of the travel imbroglio, he informed that US-based sprinter, Brenessa Thompson will be Guyana’s lone representative at the 2015 CARIFTA Games. “Only Thompson will be going. The AAG took everything into consideration and that is the only possible outcome as it is now,” Hutson said. Kaieteur Sport confirmed yesterday that Thompson and her Coach,
Shaun Dietz are scheduled to arrive in St. Kitts today. When asked why Guyana did not plot an independent journey to St. Kitts and Nevis, as opposed to seemingly depending on Trinidad and then Jamaica to get them there, Hutson said: “LIAT had no seats available for the last 10 days. It’s (St. Kitts) a difficult destination”. Guyana had been on the ascendency at CARIFTA Games, dating back to those prodigious efforts of triple gold medallist, middle distance athlete, Jevina Straker, her third gold coming as part of a 2013 team brought home six medals from the Games in the Bahamas. Middle distance queen, Cassie George led Guyana to four medals last year, including two gold of her own. George is among the athletes grounded this year, obviously halting her attempt to create a record medal haul performance from any Guyanese athlete at the Games. Guyana’s 2015 CARIFTA Games team also included Linton Mentis (U-20 male 100m, 200m), Michelle Powley, Avon Samuels, Compton Caesar (100m, 200m), Matthew Mckenzie (1500m, 3000m), Ornesto Thomas, Kenisha Phillips (200m), Claudrice Mckenzie (3000m), Chantoba Bright (Long and Triple Jump) and Natricia Hooper (Triple Jump). Julian Edmonds was named Head Coach and Yvonne October was Team Manager.
Venus falls to Suarez Navarro, Petkovic into semis Reuters - World number one Serena Williams overcame a dreadful second set to beat Germany’s Sabine Lisicki 7-6 (4) 1-6 6-3 yesterday for her 700th career win and a berth in the Miami Open semi-finals. Williams, who is seeking an eighth Miami title, will next face the winner of yesterday’s later match between Romanian third seed Simona Halep and American Sloane Stephens. After a sluggish start, Williams went on to secure the first set in a tiebreak and then broke her 27th-seeded opponent in the opening game of the second set before falling apart. Lisicki’s precise and intelligent play took advantage of a series of unforced errors from Williams as the German won six consecutive games to force a decisive set. But Williams, the two-times defending Miami champion, quickly rediscovered her form and broke to get a 3-0 lead and held firm for the win. Williams is the eighth player in WTA history to record 700 match wins, putting her in an exclusive club that is led by Martina Navratilova (1,442). Meanwhile, Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro came back from a dreadful first set to defeat three-times Miami Open champion Venus
Williams 0-6 6-1 7-5 at Key Biscayne on Tuesday and set up a semi-final clash with Germany’s ninth seed Andrea Petkovic. Petkovic booked her place in the last four after a 6-4 6-2 win over 14th seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova. Williams utterly dominated the first set, crushing the Spaniard 6-0 in less than half an hour but her opponent was able to regroup and battle back in impressive style. Suddenly regaining her confidence Suarez Navarro won the first four games and went on to take the second set 6-1. The third set bucked the trend for one-sided exchanges until Suarez Navarro broke to go 5-4 up only for Venus to break back straight away. The Spaniard won the last two games however to continue an impressive season that has seen her reach two other semi-finals and make the last eight at Indian Wells for the first time. “It was a crazy match, crazy first two sets. Venus was unbelievable at the beginning. I started a bit nervous but even if you lose the first set you are still in the competition and I am happy
with the way I came back,” said Suarez Navarro. Williams said she had struggled to find consistency. “I just made a little too many errors and I was going for it the whole match. Towards the end just never found the happy medium between being aggressive and putting the ball in the court,” she said. Petkovic made a blistering start, going up 4-1 in the first set but the 23-year-old Pliskova powered her way back to 4-4 and then had three break points, all of which were saved. Petkovic, the 2011 Miami semi-finalist, won the next five games and wrapped up the match in one hour, 16 minutes. “I was playing really well at the start but I couldn’t see the ball on my serve with the sun on one side and I was struggling,” said Petkovic. “Karolina also started playing really well and I was a little lucky at the end of the first set. But then I got better and better from there,” she said. Yesterday’s quarter-finals see top seed Serena Williams take on Germany’s Sabine Lisicki while third-seed Romanian Simona Halep faces American Sloane Stephens.
KAMAL QUITS AS ICC PRESIDENT Mustafa Kamal, the ICC president, has resigned from his position, saying his decision was “in protest [against] those who worked unconstitutionally, and for the greater good of cricket.” His resignation follows a public falling out with the ICC stemming from the IndiaBangladesh quarter-final at the World Cup, when he had strongly criticised the umpires - even questioning their motives - over a dubious no-ball call that went against Bangladesh. In a statement the ICC confirmed his resignation and said it would consider the vacancy caused by it at a meeting in Dubai later this month. It said Kamal’s letter said he was stepping down on personal grounds and “offered his apologies to all
associated with the ICC”, while adding that he had no complaints to make against anyone. Kamal had hinted at his resignation in comments made to reporters in Melbourne after the World Cup final, where he was passed over for the duty of handing out the trophy to the winners. He protested that the decision went against his right as ICC president but to no avail. Yesterday, he announced his resignation from the largely ceremonial position after landing in Dhaka and then said henceforth his statements would be as a former ICC president. He related the sequence of events that he said had forced his decision, including being “strong-armed” by the ICC,
but clarified that he would not be taking legal action against the ICC or anyone attached to the body as he had little proof. The central issue was the comments he’d made after the India-Bangladesh match and yesterday Kamal expanded on his theory, saying that the absence of a spider-cam and the lack of use of technology in making some decisions irked him. “I noticed the absence of the spider-cam from that game, which I think was a first at the MCG,” Kamal said. “There were a number of controversial decisions in the game. The technology available wasn’t utilized properly, which resulted in the controversial umpiring decisions. I am not going to say that
it was entirely the umpires’ fault. They can make mistakes in their judgment. My observation was the lack of technology that was used.” Those initial comments were the subject of a meeting organised on March 28 by ICC chairman N Srinivasan and attended by half a dozen directors. Kamal said he was asked to apologise for his statements, but he refused. He said he was then asked to withdraw them, to which he replied that he would not and said he was only willing to explain the reasons behind them. “(The ICC) asked me why I spoke in favour of Bangladesh. For me country comes first, before I am the ICC president. That’s why I spoke in favour of
Bangladesh.” Following that, Kamal alleged, he was told he wouldn’t be able to hand over the World Cup trophy, though it was specified in Clause 3.3B of the ICC’s constitution. Kamal said the meeting itself was unconstitutional since, according to him, it was the president who has the power to summon such a gathering. “They still said that I won’t be able to give the trophy. I told them you have to give a notice for a meeting first, where it has to be mentioned that it is a meeting about a constitutional amendment. There wouldn’t be any changes without a majority. They would need 8 out of 10 Full Member votes, following which it will go to the Annual General Meeting.
Mustafa Kamal I am the chair of that meeting. You have to wait till the AGM. You cannot remove me, I told them. The person who will give the trophy, will he go as the ICC president? They didn’t say anything to this,” he said. The powers of the (Continued on page 32)
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Thursday April 02, 2015
CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship... IKD Chairman, Chief USA beat Bahamas; Instructor Grades 107 Karate Antigua defeat Barbados Students at the YMCA Ninth (9th) Dan Shuseki Shihan Frank Woon-A-Tai, founder of the International Karate Daigaku, graded over 100 Karatekas of the ASK-Guyana at the YMCA Thomas Lands on Sunday last and was assisted by 6th Dan Sensei Amir Khouri. ASK-G students from, Linden, Albion, Blairmont, Canaan and Georgetown (West Field, North Georgetown and YMCA) were graded by Shuseki Frank Woon-A-Tai. Shuseki Woon-A-Tai also presented Dan Diplomas to students who were
successful at the previous examination including Safiyyah Baksh, Donte F e r n a n d e s , Tr e v o n M i l l e r, N i c k o l a i Rampersaud, Avinash Ramgolam, Miriam Chin and Instructor John Fernandes (who collected on behalf of Courtney Moses and Silas Moses of the Wowetta Dojo). Meanwhile, Shuseki Woon-A-Tai held a special training session at the YMCA on Tuesday last for students who are attending the IKD World Cup and Camp from July 15-19 next in Toronto Canada.
USA (red & white) taking on the Bahamas. (Photo, Mexsport).
GOLDEN JAGUARS to face Suriname in friendly on April 30
Cosat Del Sol, El Salvador – In a battle for first place in Group C, Lewie Valentine netted a hat trick to power the defending champion United States (3-0-0, 9 points) to a 62 win over Bahamas (2-0-1, 6 points) in the 2015 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship (CBSC) on Tuesday at the Estadio de Futbol Playa. Both sides had previously earned places in the competition’s quarterfinals. Earlier in the day, Odel Murray, Stephen Hughes and Dave Carr scored two goals apiece as Antigua & Barbuda (1-0-2, 3 points) closed out its tournament with a 10-7 victory over Barbados (0-0-3, 0 points). CONCACAF.com recaps the Group C action: ANTIGUAAND BARBUDA 10, BARBADOS 7 - Odel Murray put Antigua & Barbuda in front, 1-0, in the opening minute of the match
- Jamar Grazette and Akeem Bourne scored to give Barbados its only lead of the match, 2-1, with 9:24 left in the first period - Antigua & Barbuda finished the first period with a 4-2 advantage thanks to goals by Teon Miller (penalty kick), Troy Dublin and Stephen Hughes - Bourne scored twice more to complete his hat-trick and make it 4-4 less than a minute into the second period - Desmond Bleau broke the 4-4 tie with 7:10 left in the second period, giving Antigua & Barbuda a lead it would never relinquish - Murray, Hughes and Dave Carr scored two goals each for Antigua & Barbuda - In addition to Bourne’s hat-trick, Grazette and Nicholas Jones scored two goals each for Barbados - Murray finished as Antigua & Barbuda’s top 2015 CBSC scorer with five
goals - Bourne finished as Barbados’ top 2015 CBSC scorer with five goals UNITED STATES 6, BAHAMAS 2 - Valentine and Jason Leopoldo struck twice in the opening four minutes to give the United States a 2-0 lead after one period - Andrew Feld scored the USA’s lone goal in the second period - Lesly St. Fleur scored a pair of goals in the third period for Bahamas. - Valentine netted twice in a two-minute span in the third and Max Griffin tapped in a rebound for the U.S., which played a man down after Ryan Futagaki received his second yellow card in the third period - Valentine is the USA’s top 2015 CBSC scorer with four goals - St. Fleur is the Bahamas’ top 2015 CBSC scorer with five goals
NBS 40 overs Second Division Cricket...
RHT BAKEWELL ‘A’ CRUSH Port Mourant by 10 wickets Guyana’s Golden Jaguars will be seeking to maintain their unbeaten run so far this year (2 wins 1 draw) when they take on Suriname on Thursday April 30, 2015 at the Andre Kamperven Stadium in the Dutch speaking country. The announcement was made yesterday via a press release issued by the Guyana Football Federation (GFF). The release stated that Head Coach of the Senior Men’s National Team Jamaal Shabazz is looking forward to the challenge noting that, “Suriname is a formidable opponent and we have had joyous moments and heart breaking moments against them. Matches against “the Dutch” mean more than football to Guyana; it’s a huge rivalry that goes way back to both our colonial pasts.” In terms of the team setup he notes, “Against Grenada we used only five players
who started against St. Lucia and now we have a great opportunity to widen the pool. When one considers that in the three friendly matches we have played so far this year, seven Under-23s have featured prominently, which shows that we are starting to see depth in the squad. Additionally, games outside of the FIFA match window allow us a great opportunity to keep bodies on the pitch and our eyes on the prize.” Chairman of the GFF Normalization Committee Mr. Clinton Urling noted that the committee members are pleased with the progress of the Senior Men’s squad since they assumed the leadership of the GFF and this represents another tangible example of the federation putting football first and above all. “It also gives the team adequate practice for our first World Cup Qualifier in June”, he added.
A hostile spell of fast bowling from veteran pacer Sherain Murray and an explosive fifty by Khemraj Mahadeo propelled Rose Hall Town Bakewell ‘A’ to a crushing 10 wicket victory over arch-rivals Port Mourant in the opening round of the Berbice Cricket Board New Building Society 40 overs Second Division tournament. Playing at the Area ‘H’ ground, RHT Bakewell made light work of the visitors with Murray claiming 5 for 27 off 7.2 overs while Mahadeo made 62 not out from 46 balls. Port Mourant were asked to bat first after RHT Bakewell
skipper Major James Fraser won the toss. They soon found themselves in trouble at 22 for 4 in the 7th over, Murray in a high class display of pace and swing, dismissed Nicholas Cameron 00, Andy Mohan 01, Davendra Thakurdeen 10 and D. Seenarine 00. Yogindra Seenarine and S. Kistasammy then added 45 for the 5th wicket in 15 overs before West Indies female pacer Erva Giddings trapped Kistasammy LBW for 3. No other player offered resistance to the experienced RHT Bakewell bowling attack.
Harrinarine top scored with a composed 44 (5x4 1x6) and was last man out as Port Mourant were dismissed for 102 off 25.2 overs. Giddings supported Murray with 3 for 30 off eight overs while Denzil Sinclair had 1 for 15 from four overs. Extras supported the PMCC score with a healthy 23. Needing to score 103 from 40 overs, RHT Bakewell coasted to an easy win, Mahadeo and Vidal Crandon tore into the Port Mourant bowlers racing to 105 without loss. Mahadeo ended on 62 (5x4 4x6) while Crandon contributed 34 (2x4 2x6).
Thursday April 02, 2015
Kaieteur News
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Noble House Seafoods recommits to GCA Cricket
Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) will begin the defense of their Georgetown C r i c k e t A s s o c i a t i o n ’s (GCA) Noble House Seafoods two-day second division title against Malteenoes at DCC on April 11 in one of eight first round games in 2015 tournament. The East Bank Demerara based Seafoods entity renewed their sponsorship of this competition for the fifth consecutive year at a presentation ceremony at the Malteenoes Sports Club (MSC) pavilion yesterday afternoon and according to Mr. Piercy Corlette, who represented Noble House Seafoods, the GCA continues to do an excellent job in running the 16-team competition which is expected to climax with a grand final by May month end. The tournament is divided into four zones. Players above the age of 19 who have represented Guyana at the senior level within the last three years and their County in the last two years at senior level are
Piercy Corlette of Noble House Seafoods Presents the sponsorship cheque to GCA’s Debbie McNichol in the presence of GCA President Roger Harper (middle), Mark Harper (left) and Shawn Massiah (right). debarred from playing in this competition while players who have played FirstDivision cricket during the same year of this competition are required to play at least two matches in the zonal stage of this tournament to qualify to play in the semi-finals and final. All matches will start at 11:00hrs and conclude at 17:30hrs on Saturdays. A minimum of 90 overs has to
be bowled in the day but while the same commencement and concluding time is set for Sundays, a minimum of 75 overs, plus 15 must be bowled in the last hour. The players will have a 30-minute break for Lunch from 14:00hrs while the two top teams from each zone will advance to the quarter finals. Twelve (12) points plus bonus points will be
awarded for an outright win while six points plus bonus points will be awarded for winning ‘first innings’ points. An Abandoned match earns each team four points plus their bonus points. The new regulation for boundaries at GYO, GNIC and MYO says that because of the small size of those grounds sixes will only be allowed when the ball is hit over the straight boundaries
but balls hit to, or over the square boundaries shall be deemed a four. Under-19 fast bowlers can only bowl six overs in one spell and only nine overs in any one session while fast bowlers must bowl at least a quarter of the total number of overs in any innings that exceeds 20. One point will be deducted for every over that is not accounted for in each
innings during the zone stage. Six runs will be added to the opposition total for each over of pace not accounted for in each innings. This is to encourage fast bowling at this level at a time when most teams in Guyana tend to overuse spinners and at times even use them to open the bowling. President of the GCA Roger Harper thanked Noble House Seafoods for their continued support while Chairman of the Competitions Committee Shawn Massiah explained the rules of the competition to the Captains and Coaches of the 16 teams af ter th e p r es en tatio n yesterday. The first round will see Zone A matches being contested; DCC entertains MSC while GYO host Diplomats. In Zone B; Everest will be at home to GNIC and Third Class play Ace Warriors at GNIC while in Zone C; Police are at home to TSC and GDF welcome Saints. (Sean Devers)
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Rain ruins GYO, USA cricket academy U13 fixture... FROM LEFT: Isaiah Jegernauth, Sai Teja and Akhil Kumar
Cricket is on the rise in the USA - Manager Singh By Zaheer Mohamed Due to a heavy down pour which left the pitch in a soggy state, the umpires were forced to call off play after lunch in the Under-13 35-over fixture between the visiting New York Cricket Academy and Gandhi Youth Organisation (GYO) yesterday at the Georgetown Cricket Club, Bourda. The visitors batted after winning the toss and managed 130-6 off their allotted overs. Opener Sai Teja scored 28 (2x4) while Akhil Kumar and Isaiah Jagernauth made 21 each. N e g u s a Wa l t e r s a n d Mavindra Dindyal claimed two wickets each. The host were about to commence their reply when the rain intervened. While expressing his disappointment, Operations Manager of the NY Academy Juwala P. Singh
told Kaieteur Sport that the game is on the rise in the United States. Singh, a Guyanese by birth stated that they got the people there to recognize the game as a professional sport. “We managed to start coaching in the schools about four years ago and now we have about 31 schools playing the game competitively. New York City Police Department and the Mayor and Parks are also involved,” he said. Singh indicated that former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg donated US$5.3M to the Academy for the development of the game. He pointed out that the game will continue to expand stating that the market for the game there is good. Singh informed that they would tour various countries from time to time and one of their aims is to expose the players to turf pitches since
they play on mattings in the USA. He expressed gratitude to the Guyana Cricket Board for facilitating their visit. Former GCC player and coach of the visiting team, Linden Fraser said they are currently preparing their Under-18 team for the ICC Americas Under-19 qualifiers which will be held later this year in Canada. “We also want the U-13 and 15 players to know what it is like to play overseas,” he posited. Fraser said he is pleased with the tour so far, but the players would have liked to complete the game at the world famous, GCC ground. The coach informed that the players are talented adding that Trinidad and Tobago batsman William Perkins is a product of their academy. Fraser feels that if Caribbean Premier League (CPL) matches are being played in the USA, it will
Linden Fraser (left) and Juwala Singh help them to expand the game rapidly. “The West Indies is our neighbour and we do look forward to some help from them. The staging of CPL games in the USA will motivate the young players and attract large crowds,” he said. He stated that their academy is affiliated to the USA Cricket Association and they would like to have (Continued on page 36)
Thursday April 02, 2015
Kaieteur News
Page 41
GCA/Brain Street U-15
Silver Jubilee Celebration 1990 - 2015 Bookie, Singh hit RHTYSC to host Ansa McAl May Day centuries, Maloney grabs 6 Challenge Cup 5 overs Cricket Tourney
Akeem Maloney Centuries by Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) pair Alphius Bookie and Sachin Singh and a six-wicket haul by Transport Sports Club’s Akeem Maloney highlighted last Tuesday’s action in the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA)/ Brainstreet Under-15 tournament. Bookie stroked an unbeaten 131 while Singh cracked 107 as DCC rattled up 328-2 off their reduced quota of 34 overs, batting first at Muslim Youth Organisation ground. Bookie’s innings lasted 71 balls and contained seven fours and 11 sixes while Singh reached his century off just 54 deliveries with four fours and 11 sixes. Ashmead Nedd made an unbeaten 55 (1×4 7x6) from 19 deliveries. Areeb Ali picked up two wickets for Everest who replied with 689 from their allotted 44 overs (based on the playing conditions) to earn a draw.
FROM LEFT: Ashmead Nedd, Alphius Bookie and Sachin Singh Yeudistir Persaud (10) was the only batsman to reach double figures as Nedd captured 4-4. At GNIC, the host overcame Diplomats by 43 runs. GNIC managed 128-9 in 35 overs, batting first. Jeremiah Benjamin made 23; Ntini Pertmaul and Mario D’ Guiar claimed three wickets each. Diplomats responded with 85-9 in 17.4 overs; innings closed. Orin Moore hit 35 (3x4 3x6); Bryon Bowen and Dwain Dick snared three wickets apiece. At Bourda, Transport Sports Club (TSC) trounced Georgetown Cricket Club by 10 wickets. GCC was sent packing for 41 in 37.3 overs.
Reuben Stoby blows... From page 43 17:41 was the second fastest time ever run in the 5K on Tortola. The 5K record currently stands at 17:36 and was set on the flat Road Town course some years ago. The women’s race was won by Katrina Crumpler in a time of 21:04.23. Crumpler said she was hoping to go under 21 minutes but was, nevertheless, pleased with
the win. In second was Dive BVI 5K Series winner Rosmond Johnson in 22:02.66. “I am happy with my time because I did a much better time in Virgin Gorda even though this course had hills and I often tell myself I am not good on the hills.” Third was Melissa Bruner in 23:25.50. The next race of the series is on Beef Island on April 18, next. (Just Sports Magazine)
Akeem Maloney bagged 6-6 and Joel Spooner 3-4. TSC responded with 42 without loss in seven overs. Adrian Hinds scored 16 not out.
Twelve second division teams in the ancient county of Berbice on May day 201505-01 would be clashing in the first ever edition of the Ansa McAl’s May Day Challenge Cup 5 overs cricket tournament. The tournament is being organized and coordinated by the Silver Jubilee Anniversary and Cricket Development Committees of Guyana’s leading youth and sports organization, the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club and is been solely sponsored by Ansa McAl. Club Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster stated at a simple presentation ceremony that the Challenge Cup is the first of four major tournaments that would be promoted by the RHTYSC as part of its ‘Say No to Drugs/Suicide and Yes to Education’ sports campaign. The teams that would be part of the tournament are Rose
Ansa McAl Berbice Manager Mark Bhikai hands over sponsorship cheque to RHTYSC Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster. Hall Bakewell ‘A’, Rose Hall B a k e w e l l ‘ B ’ , Yo u n g Warriors, Albion, Chesney, Fyrish, Courtland, Block ‘4’, Yakusari, Mibikuri, Jai Hind and Tamarind Root. The teams would first play six
matches of four overs each followed by the second rounds, one semifinal and final of five overs duration. The long serving Secretary/CEO stated that (Continued on page 32)
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Kaieteur News
Thursday April 02, 2015
Nat U-17 spinners stifle USA U-18s, avenges first match loss USACA Guyana cricket tour
By Sean Devers In bright sunshine at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, the United States of America Cricket Academy (USACA) Under18 side lost by two wickets to the Guyana Under-17 team when the USACA tour to Guyana continued yesterday on the East Bank of Demerara. A responsible 82-run second wicket partnership between Gauranshu Sharma (36) and Kushal Ganji (33) rallied the North Americans to 149 all out in 48.3 overs as the spinners, as expected, dominated proceedings. O ff - s p i n n e r s S a g a r Hetarami (3-33), Kevin Sinclair (2-15) and left-arm spinner Ashmead Nedd (215) did the damage with the ball after off-spinner Richie Looknauth, whose action looks a bit suspect, opened the bowling for Guyana and had 0-11 from 10 miserly overs. Guyana reached 150-
Adrian Sukwah sweeps during his fighting 35 for Guyana at Providence yesterday 8 from 46.4 overs, Raymond Perez leading the way with 42 and Adrian Sukwah making 35. Off-spinner Rafeek Nazeer had 3-26 and Jash Patel 2-19 for the USA unit in a losing cause, the local side avenging their loss to the tourist’s in their first
game. On a slow and low track, the Americans opted to bat on an outfield still showing the effects of Sunday’s football contest between Guyana’s Golden Jaguars and Grenada’s Spice Boyz. The tourists were off to a horrendous start when
Sagar Patel was run out for a duck with just a single on the board. Sharma and Ganji tried to repair the early damage with a solid but laborious partnership that was exciting as watching paint dry. Watched by a handful of spectators, mostly friends and relatives of the players, the second wicket pair struggled to get the ball
off the square as Nedd and Hetarami kept the shackles on the Americans with frugal spells. The batsmen were made to work hard for their runs with Ganji, who reached the boundary four times, being the slightly more aggressive of the two batsmen. However, with the score on 83 in the 30th over, Ganji was caught and
bowled by Nedd for a painstaking 33 while seven runs later, Guyanese Derick Narine, who scored a fluent 56 against Berbice Under18s at Port Mourant on Monday, was bowled by Hetarami for one. When Nedd removed Sharma for 36 with just two fours in the 33rd over, the USA side was 92-4. Without addition to the score, Chetram Persaud was LBW to Hetarami for on; despite a fighting 17 from Nandan Polisetty, who added 62 with Narine in Berbice on Monday, 14 from Jash Petal and an aggressive 12 with two fours from Nazeer the visitors were bowled out with nine balls left in the innings. When the Guyana U-17s began their reply Perez and Joshua Persaud provided a good platform for the team to build on before Nazeer got rid of Persaud (15) at 36-1 before Shail Patel removed Baskar Yadram (2) at 50-2. It was soon 69-3 when Perez who played some (Continued on page 36)
Thursday April 02, 2015
Kaieteur News
Reuben Stoby blows the field away in Blenheim Trust 5K Carrot Bay – BVI based Guyanese journalist Reuben Stoby continued his sudden dominance on the road racing scene by whipping the field in the 2nd race of the Blenheim Trust 5K series in Carrot Bay on March 28 last. Fresh off the Dive BVI 5K Series on Virgin Gorda where he ran 18:18 in the final race of the series a week ago to smash his own record, Stoby ran unchallenged from start to finish to win in 17:41 minutes, yet another course record. “I have trained hard, I stuck with the race plan to go out hard and I thank God for preserving me through this race. I am very happy with achieving my goal of
running under 18 minutes this year. Having done that so early into the season makes me want to think about running sub 17 by the end of this year,” Stoby told Just Sports Magazine following the win. Winner of the first race in the series, Tarique Moses, found the pace too much and never put up a meaningful challenge on the course that included two steep climbs. Moses crossed the line in 18:14:30. “He (Stoby) had a much larger lead on me in the race and I managed to close the gap a little but he was very strong today,” Moses said. Finishing third was Dive BVI 5K Series overall
2015 CFU Club Championship Phase 1
Alpha hosts Group 1 at Providence from April 15
A
lpha will begin their quest for to advance to the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League when they host Suriname’s Inter Moengotapoe and Trinidad and Tobago’s Central FC from April 15 at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence. Aka, ‘The Hammer’, Alpha, Guyana’s most successful club side will play Inter Moengotapoe from 16:00hrs on Wednesday April 15; the Surinamese side will ten face T&T’s Central FC on April 17 before Alpha close out the group on Sunday 19th against the T&T side. Only the group winner will advance to the final round. Four groups will contest the CFU competition, the other Guyanese side contesting is the Guyana Defense Force and they have been drawn in Group 2 that will be hosted by Trinidad and Tobago’s Direct TV W. Connection FC. The other clubs in this group are SAP FC of Antigua and Barbuda and Waterhouse FC of Jamaica. GDF will play the host club in the feature game of the opening double header on April 15. They oppose Waterhouse in the opening game of another double header on the 17th with their final game two days later against SAP FC.
Group 3 will be hosted by Haiti’s America FC and include, Montego Bay United (Jamaica), SV Excelsior (Suriname) and Club Sportif (Guadeloupe). Group 4 is made up of host Don Bosco FC de Petion Ville (Haiti), Helenites Sporting Club (VIR), Unite Sainte Rose (GLP), Lyford Cay FC (BAH). All the group stage matches are slated for April 15, 17, 19 with the Final Round set for May 22 and 24 at a venue to be decided.
winner Julius Farley in 19:35.03. Farley, who said he prefers the 10K distance, said the course was a cool one but the pace was hot. “The course was nice and cool. I tried to keep up a bit with Tarique but couldn’t hold on so I decided to settle for third.” Meanwhile, Stoby’s winning time of (Continued on page 41)
The race got off to a fast start with Reuben Stoby setting another course record en route to victory. (Photo: Just Sports Magazine)
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t r o Sp
IKD Chairman, Chief Instructor Grades 107 Karate Students at the YMCA
Shuseki Shihan Frank Woon-A-Tai and Sensei Amir Khouri with the over 100 students who were graded.
Guyana’s GOLDEN JAGUARS to face Suriname in CARIFTA friendly on April 30 Games team grounded - Thompson will be lone representative Guyana’s Head Coach Jamaal Shabazz and Captain Christopher Nurse. Printed and published by National Media & Publishing Company Limited, 24 Saffon St.Charlestown, Georgetown.Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491 or Fax: 225-8473/ 226-8210